Fact Check: Video of Rahul Gandhi saying Congress is dividing India is edited
NewsMeter found that the viral video was edited, and in the original video, Gandhi said the opposite.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 6 March 2024 3:03 PM GMT
Screengrab from the viral video. (Source: X/@umanngjain)
A video circulating on social media shows Congress leader Rahul Gandhi allegedly criticising the Congress Party, claiming it is dividing the country. In the video, he is heard saying, “While the BJP is trying to bring everyone together, the Congress party is dividing one religion from another, one caste from another, one state from another.”
A user who shared the video on X wrote, “See, the truth always comes out of the mouth,” with several Bharatiya Janata Party supporters praising Gandhi for speaking the “truth.”
Several Bharatiya Janata Party supporters are responding to this video saying the Congress leader has finally spoken the “truth”.
(Source: X/@umanngjain)
Click here to see the archived post.
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the viral video was edited, and in the original video, Gandhi said the opposite.
It is highly unlikely for a Congress leader like Rahul Gandhi to make such critical comments about the Congress Party while praising the BJP. If he had made such a statement, it would have made news.
Upon a reverse image search of the video’s keyframe, we found a video of the public meeting live-streamed on Gandhi’s YouTube channel on March 2. The video captures Gandhi addressing a public meeting during Bharat Jodo Naya Yatra, traveling from Rajasthan’s Dholapur to Madhya Pradesh’s Morena.
In the 44-minute-long video, at around the 20:28-minute timestamp, the viral clip appears, but Gandhi is heard saying, “The BJP is dividing people on the basis of religion, caste, and region, while the Congress party is trying to unite the people.”
The same video was found on the Facebook page of Rahul Gandhi, titled “LIVE: Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra | Dholpur to Morena | Rajasthan to Madhya Pradesh.” In this video, he makes ideological comparisons between the BJP and the Congress Party, emphasising that the Congress Party seeks to unite people.
We checked the Hindi transcript of the speech on the website of the Indian National Congress and found the same comparison made by Gandhi.
We also found the original video shared by The Press Trust of India on X on March 2. In the caption, the news agency quoted Rahul Gandhi saying, “On one hand, the BJP is dividing people, and on the other hand, the Congress Party is trying to bring everyone together.”
Hence, we conclude that the viral clip of Rahul Gandhi praising the BJP and criticising the Congress party is edited.
