FACT CHECK BY BOOM: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s video in which she talks about late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is being circulated on social media with a misleading claim that she said voters in Amethi criticised her father for not building a road in his parliamentary constituency. However, BOOM found that in her original speech, Priyanka Gandhi was giving an example of how voters used to hold their leaders accountable in the past, drawing a comparison to the present day. She alleged that to seek votes, leaders provoke people on religious grounds instead of talking about issues.
The viral video was posted by the X handle Politics Pe Charcha (@politicscharcha) on X with the caption when translated from Hindi reads, "Congress did nothing then and does nothing now too."
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra can be heard in the video saying, "I have seen Indira Ji, I have seen Rajiv Ji... once upon a time when I used to go to the village with Rajiv Ji... he used to get scolded by the villagers... in his own parliamentary constituency, In Amethi, they used to scold him saying that brother Rajiv you did not build our road..."
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video has been cropped and leaves out the full context of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's speech in which she cites the example of Rajiv Gandhi to explain that how voters were more aware back then as compared to today, adding that leaders these days provoke people in the name of religion.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had given this speech in Chirmiri, Chhattisgarh on May 2, 2024. She was campaigning for Congress candidate Jyotsna Mahant from Korba Lok Sabha seat and during her speech she also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The official handle of the Congress party also posted a longer version of the speech which matches the viral video.
The caption when translated from Hindi reads, "Once upon a time there was a thing called accountability. When I myself used to go with Rajiv Gandhi ji, people used to scold him for his work. But today leaders provoke you in the name of religion and take your votes. Because he knows that he will get votes in the name of religion, so why should he work?"
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The second part of the speech where Priyanka says, "But today leaders provoke you in the name of religion and take your votes. Because he knows that he will get votes in the name of religion, so why should he work?", has been left out of the viral video leaving out context to give it a misleading claim.
The same section of this speech can be seen in the full speech uploaded on Congress' YouTube channel from the 17 minutes timestamp.
Claim :
Video shows Priyanka Gandhi Vadra talking about voters in Amethi criticising Former PM Rajiv Gandhi for not building a road
Claimed By :
Politics Pe Charcha
Fact Check :
Misleading
(Disclaimer: This story was originally published by BOOM, and republished by India TV as part of the Shakti Collective.)
