A video has gone viral on social media recently, which opens with a news anchor saying, “Rahul Gandhi recently attended a rally held by the Youth Congress. He also addressed a gathering during the occasion.” Next, a clip of Gandhi is played where he can be heard saying, “Remember that as long as Narendra Modi is the prime minister, as long as this government that supports population control is in power, India’s youth will get employment.” Sharing the clip, Facebook user ‘Rebel Saheb’ wrote, “I have been saying this from the very beginning. Rahul is a BJP campaigner, he is BJP’s chief campaigner! As long as Mr. Modi is in power, the youth will get employment.”(Archive link)
मैं तो शुरू से ही कह रहा हूं, राहुल बीजेपी के 🌟 कैंपेनर है 😂😂
बीजेपी के मुख्य प्रचारक !!
जब तक मोदी जी की सरकार है, तब तक युवाओं को रोजगार मिलेगा 😂😂😂Posted by विद्रोही साहेब on Thursday, August 12, 2021
Facebook user ‘CP Bhakt’ also shared the video. The accompanying caption read, “Youth leader Rahul Gandhi while addressing the Youth Congress, guaranteed that as long as Mr. Modi and Mr. Amit Shah were in power, India’s youth would be given employment. Seems like Rahul will be getting a BJP ticket soon.” (Archive link)
युवा कांग्रेस के मंच को युवा नेता राहूल गांधी ने सम्बोधित करते हुये मोदीजी और मोटाभाई की गारंटी लेते हुये घोषणा की इन दोनो की जब तक सरकार है, नवयुवकों को रोजगार मिलेगा,लगता है, राहूल को भाजपा टिकट दे रही है ।
Posted by CP Bhakta on Thursday, August 12, 2021
Twitter user Vikram Singh Jain tweeted the clip and wrote that Gandhi was the chief advocate for the BJP. (Archive link)
भाजपा के मुख्य प्रचारक !!
जब तक मोदीजी की सरकार है तब तक युवाओ को रोजगार मिलेगा बस।🤔😜 pic.twitter.com/iZDURSeHnW— विक्रमसिंह जैन(NF)🇮🇳 (@JAINVIKRAMSINGH) August 12, 2021
The video has been spreading like wildfire across Facebook and Twitter and has now made its way to WhatsApp as well.
Edited video
Alt News performed a keyword search and came across an HW News video report dated August 5. According to the report, Rahul Gandhi took part in the ‘Parliament Ghero’ rally held by the Youth Congress. In this video report, he says at the 5:41 mark, “And brothers and sisters, remember that as long as Narendra Modi is the prime minister, as long as this government that supports population control is in power, India’s youth will not find employment.”
Therefore, in reality, Rahul Gandhi was targeting Prime Minister Modi. The viral video was created by doctoring an Aaj Tak news broadcast, and then posting it online. The first 19 seconds of this Aaj Tak video report contains the portion of his speech that has been edited and circulated.
The Indian National Congress also posted this video on its Facebook page.
To sum it up, a speech made by Rahul Gandhi during a Youth Congress rally was edited and circulated on social media.
Independent journalism that speaks truth to power and is free of corporate and political control is possible only when people start contributing towards the same. Please consider donating towards this endeavour to fight fake news and misinformation.
