Fact Check: Rahul Gandhi warns action against Hindus after BJP steps down? Here’s the truth
SD: A video of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi threatening ‘worse than Bangladesh’ action against Hindus after the BJP government leaves has gone viral
By K Sherly Sharon Published on 9 Dec 2024 1:55 PM GMT
Claim: The viral video shows Rahul Gandhi threatening to make the situation for Hindus in India ‘worse than Bangladesh’ after the BJP leaves power.
Fact: The claim is false. The viral video is from an old clip where Rahul Gandhi is speaking about CBI, ED and ECI in the context of electoral bonds.
Hyderabad: Amid protests in India over alleged incidents of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh, a video of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi allegedly saying ‘one day BJP will leave power and then action will be taken against them’ is going viral. The video is being shared with the claim that Rahul Gandhi was threatening to make the situation for Hindus in India ‘worse than Bangladesh’ after the BJP leaves power.
An X user shared the video with the caption, “Hindus, wait and see when BJP is ousted; I will make your situation worse than Bangladesh.” (Archive)
Similar claims can be seen here and here. (Archive 1, Archive 2)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The video was edited to remove the context where Rahul Gandhi was talking about the electoral bonds scheme.
Through a keyword search, we found a YouTube Shorts published by CNBCawaaz. From the title and the caption of the video, we can see that Rahul Gandhi was commenting on persons/entities connected to the electoral bonds scheme. The video had the part of Rahul Gandhi’s statement that was being shared on social media as the Congress leader’s 'threat to Hindus.'
Following this lead, we performed keyword searches and found a video titled ‘Electoral bonds: Narendra Modi’s extortion racket | Press Conference | Rahul Gandhi’ on Rahul Gandhi’s verified YouTube Channel. The video was uploaded on March 15, 2024.
The viral clip can be seen at the 17:36-minute mark. In the YouTube video, which is 18 minutes long, Rahul Gandhi can be seen addressing the media about the electoral bonds. There were no threats made against Hindus in this entire video.
The video also did not show Rahul Gandhi saying that he would make the situation of Hindus ‘worse than Bangladesh’. In the video, Rahul Gandhi can be heard saying, “The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Election Commission and the Enforcement Directorate are now the tools of BJP and RSS. These are no longer institutions of India.” (Translated from Hindi)
He added, “If EC and CBI did their work, all of this wouldn’t happen. They should also think about this, those people that are doing all this. One day, the BJP government will change and then action will be taken. Action will be taken in such a way that I guarantee you something like this will not happen again. They too should think about this.” (Translated from Hindi)
This proved that he was referring to institutions such as CBI, ED and ECI, not Hindus, in the viral clip.
Therefore, NewsMeter concludes that the claim is false.
