Did Rahul say ‘satta’ in place of ‘satya’? Clipped video viral with misleading claim

A 23-second video of a speech by Rahul Gandhi has gone viral on social media. In this clip, the Congress leader talks about Mahatma Gandhi and his method of ‘satyagraha’. Social media users and right-wing supporters have shared this clip with a caption that Rahul Gandhi used the word Satta (power) instead of Satya (truth).

Rajesh Munat, a BJP leader and former Chhattisgarh minister, shared this video and asked Rahul to learn the true meaning, pronunciation and expression of ‘Satyagraha’.

सत्याग्रह का अर्थ , उच्चारण और भाव तो सीख लीजिये @RahulGandhi जी ! हमे न सिखाएं ! @BJP4India ने देश की जनता के साथ कई वर्षों तक कांग्रेस की नीतियों के खिलाफ सत्याग्रह किया है!
गलती से आपके मन की बात जुबां पर आ ही गई..कांग्रेस का एक ही मंत्र है “सत्ता के रास्ते को कभी मत छोड़ो” pic.twitter.com/3fO4uF1taF

— Rajesh munat (@RajeshMunat) February 26, 2023

Deepak Kumar, a television anchor for News Nation TV, shared this video with a similar caption, mocking Rahul Gandhi.

Sunday comedy by …… 😂😂

“Mahatma Gandhi kehte the
SATTA ke raste ko kabhi mat chhodo” pic.twitter.com/x6sZK8gW76

— दीपक कुमार (@Deepak_Anchor) February 26, 2023

The video with similar captions has been shared by multiple internet users. The video has gone viral and Rahul Gandhi is being mocked for his alleged misuse of words. Some of the tweets and Facebook posts can be seen in the slideshow below.

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Fact Check

By using relevant keywords on YouTube, Alt News found the speech in its entirety that Rahul Gandhi delivered at the 85th plenary session of the Indian National Congress at Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

In his speech, at 35:47, he refers to the ANI podcast with external affairs minister S Jaishankar, where the minister said India is a smaller economy as compared to China, hence it cannot fight with them (China). Rahul then adds, “When India fought against the Britishers, was the British economy smaller than India’s?”. He goes on to talk about Veer Savarkar and the BJP being associated with the same ideology, and uses the word ‘Kayartaa’ or cowardice. He also questions the BJP on patriotism and nationalism.

At 38:11 in his speech, Rahul refers to Mahatma Gandhi and his idea of Satyagraha. He says, “Mahatma Gandhi used to say…he used to talk about Satyagraha (passive resistance), what is the meaning of Satyagraha?”. He points at the audience and repeats, “do not ever get off the path of Satta (power)” he said, the viral clips ends here at 38:28 of the full video.

If one continues watching, one finds that Rahul immediately apologized and corrected himself. He says, “Sorry, do not ever get off the path of Satya (truth)”. He then went ahead and made a distinction between the Congress Party as being ‘Satyagrahi’ or agitators for truth and the BJP as being ‘Satta-grahi’ meaning, they are ready to go to any lengths for power.

Therefore, it is clear that the viral video of Rahul Gandhi is clipped. He made a slip of the tongue when he said ‘satta’ in place of ‘satya’. He immediately corrected himself.

In the past, several clipped videos of Rahul Gandhi have been viral. Readers can find related Alt News fact checks here.