In light of the 2024 General elections, a video (here & here) featuring Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in which he can be heard saying, ‘If our government comes to power, we will abolish the Constitution,‘ is being widely shared on social media. Let’s verify the authenticity of the video.
Claim: Rahul Gandhi said Congress will abolish the constitution after forming the Government.
Fact: The viral video is clipped. In the full video, Rahul Gandhi was quoting remarks made by BJP members regarding the abolition or alteration of the Constitution. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
A reverse image search of the keyframes extracted from the viral video has led us to the full video (here & here), which was live-streamed on the official YouTube channel of the Indian National Congress on 29 April 2024.
Speaking at a public meeting in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, Rahul Gandhi said(at 13.17), ‘BJP leaders—not just one, but many—have stated that if our government is formed, then this time we will abolish the Constitution.’ This indicates that Rahul Gandhi’s speech has been clipped to show as if he is saying that the Congress party is planning to abolish the Constitution.
Furthermore, in his speech, he mentioned that the 2024 Lok Sabha election has become a battle to save democracy, reservation, the Constitution, and the rights of the poor. He emphasized that the Congress party is committed to protecting the Constitution from the BJP.
To sum up, a clipped video of Rahul Gandhi is being shared as if he is revealing the Congress’s plans to abolish the Constitution.
This story was originally published by Factly and republished by OrissaPOST as part of the Shakti Collective.
