Fact check: Does Rahul Gandhi praise the BJP for uniting the country?

Screenshot of the viral video

The Lok Sabha elections are just a few weeks away, video Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks purportedly praising the Bharatiya Janata Party have gone viral on the internet. In the video, Mr Gandhi praised the BJP for uniting people and agreed that it divides people in the name of religion and caste. Users claim this is the reality of the Congress and Mr Gandhi exposed his own party.

“On one hand, the BJP is trying to bring everyone together, and on the other hand, the Congress is dividing one religion from another, one caste from another,” Gandhi said in the video.

fact check

Through related keyword searches, we found a video uploaded on March 2, 2024 on the official YouTube channel of the Indian National Congress Party. Rahul Gandhi addresses a crowd in Morena, Madhya Pradesh. This video is about the flag handing over ceremony of the Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra. In this video, we can see the viral clip at the timestamp of 19 minutes and 45 seconds.

He said, “There is a fight between two ideologies in this country. The ongoing fight between hatred and love. The ongoing fight between non-violence and violence is clearly visible. On one side, the BJP is divided” The division of one religion against another, one caste against another, one state against another. The Congress party, on the other hand, is trying to bring everyone together. “

After watching the above video, it became clear to us that the viral video was edited and shared. The original video was edited to look like Rahul Gandhi praising the BJP and criticizing his own party. Below you can see a comparison between viral videos and edited videos.

in conclusion

In fact Crescendo discovered that the original video had been cut and edited. In the actual video, Mr Gandhi criticized the BJP for dividing people in the name of religion and caste. He was not criticizing his own party.

This story was originally published on Crescendo of factsand was re-released by NDTV as part of Shakti Collective.