BJP shares clipped video of Rahul Gandhi’s speech to falsely claim Cong leader insulted Bharat Mata

The official handle of BJP on X (@BJP4India) recently shared an 18-second video of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi claiming that the Congress leader had raised an objectionable question about Bharat Mata (Mother India) and asked, “Who is this Bharat Mata, what is she?”

ये भारत माता है कौन, है क्या, asks puppet of George Soros. Shameful. pic.twitter.com/8S3UVBCrJP

— BJP (@BJP4India) November 19, 2023

Expelled BJP leader and the party’s former Delhi spokesperson Naveen Kumar Jindal tweeted this video and wrote that only a child born from the womb of a foreign woman could ask who Bharat Mata was. (Archived link)

BJP spokesperson Anuja Kapur also tweeted the clip, calling Rahul Gandhi a traitor to the nation. (Archived link)

Several social media handles including Uttar Pradesh BJP Youth Wing Social Media Head Richa Rajpoot, BJP Mumbai Spokesperson Suresh Nakhua, BJP Delhi, BJP Chhattisgarh and a number of politicians and supporters amplified the video with the same claim.

Fact Check

Alt News examined the video shared by the BJP’s official handle and noticed that the context in which the statement was made cannot be clearly understood. We then performed a keyword search to gather more information. This led us to an Amar Ujala article dated November 19. According to this report, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, while addressing a public meeting in Bundi, Rajasthan, asked who was Mother India and followed it up by answering that the people of the country are the ones who make up Mother India. He said that the earth itself was Mother India and every person who resonated with the slogan constituted Mother India.

We also found a longer version of the speech on YouTube. At the 0:52 mark, Rahul Gandhi can be heard saying, “Chandana ji just raised the slogan, ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ (Glory to Mother India). So the question is–everyone raises this slogan. We hear ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ often. But who is this Mother India? What is she? The question is, what is it that we praise while raising this slogan – all of us praise, I do, you people do, everyone does – who is this Mother India? Look, Mother India is the earth. Mother India is the people of this country. Your brothers, sisters, parents, poor people, rich people, elderly people, all those people in whom this slogan of Bharat Mata resonates, make up Bharat Mata.”

To sum it up, the BJP and its leaders shared a clipped video of a speech by Rahul Gandhi falsely claiming that he raised questions on Bharat Mata (Mother India). In reality, after questioning what Mother India is, he stated that the earth and its people constituted the idea of Bharat Mata.