Alpesh Thakor’s rally video morphed with pro-Modi chants

A video of Gujarat Congress leader Alpesh Thakor’s rally, where he can be heard asking the crowd to cheer for Congress President Rahul Gandhi, and the crowd responding with “Modi Modi” chants, is being shared extensively on social media.

The caption reads: “गुजरात के अहमदनगर में राहुल_गांधी की रैली में कांग्रेस विधायक अल्पेश ठाकोर ने कांग्रेस राहुल गांधी का नारा लगाया जनता ने मोदी का नारा लगाया अल्पेश ठाकुर बोले बस बस” (Congress leader Alpesh Thakor wanted people to chant slogans in favour of Gandhi at a rally held by Rahul Gandhi in Ahmednagar (Gujarat) and people shouted, “Modi Modi”, then Thakor said that’s enough -translated)

The same video with the identical narrative is viral on Twitter and Facebook alike.

गुजरात के अहमदनगर में #राहुल_गांधी की रैली में कांग्रेस विधायक #अल्पेश_ठाकोर ने कांग्रेस राहुल गांधी का नारा लगाया #जनता ने #मोदी का नारा लगाया अल्पेश ठाकुर बोले बस बस 😁😂😁😂 pic.twitter.com/3iOblHREav

— Chowkidar Sandeep Kapoor (@Sandeepkapoor01) March 16, 2019

Edited video viral since 2017

Alt News found that the video had been morphed, with the audio being superimposed with “Modi Modi” chants to demonstrate the response from the crowd when Alpesh Thakor requested to chant slogans in favour of Rahul Gandhi. At 33:29 mins, in the extended video of the rally uploaded by Gujarat Congress on their YouTube Channel, when Alpesh Thakor had asked people to raise slogans in support of Gandhi, they actually said, “Rahul Gandhi Zindabad”.

In 2017, ABP News had fact-checked the same edited video, when it had gone viral on social media during the Gujarat Assembly election. Despite several media outlets debunking the video, it continues to circulate on social media. With the general election around the corner, social media users should be circumspect about viral images and videos, which may be propagated by supporters of political parties to mislead voters.