Fact Check: Cropped Video Peddled As Mallikarjun Kharge Saying 'Congress Is Finished'
A cropped video of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is circulating with a false claim that it shows him confessing that the Congress party has been disbanded and is non-functional now. BOOM found that in the original speech, Kharge is heard talking about the leaders of the opposition parties from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, who have in their speeches stated that the Congress party is over. In the viral video Kharge says in Hindi, "Congress is over, Congress is dead, and now you will not see Congress anywhere." The video also has a meme showing two children fighting, where one's face has been swapped with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's face. The original meme can be seen here.
The video was posted by Instagram handle Chhattisgarh Chaupal with a Hindi caption that translates to, "This time it will be the last rites of Congress".
Click here to view the post.
Fact Check
BOOM found that the video was clipped from Kharge's original speech to create the misleading claim about the Congress president. In the original speech, Kharge is heard talking about the leaders from Gujarat, who have accused the Congress party of being over and he attributes the remarks made in the viral video to them.
Starting at 12:02 minutes mark, Kharge can be heard saying, "Ahmedabad is such a big and famous city. Here Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Dadabhai Naoroji and many great leaders took birth in this place, and they made Gujarat great. Gandhiji and Sardar Patel, Bhulabhai Desai, Vithalbhai Patel and starting from the Speaker of our Lok Sabha, Mavalankar ji - all the great leaders have built the country and among them, three became the presidents of our Congress Party - Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi and UN Dhebar… All these individuals assumed the position of party president, adorned it, and strengthened the party."
He then goes on to say, "So, I want to say that this is the foundation of the Congress Party. That foundation is very strong in Ahmedabad city, no one can remove it, and no one can dare to say that we will finish the Congress. Some people say that the Congress is over, the Congress is dead and now you will not see the Congress anywhere. The leaders from here say…I only ask them this much. This Ahmedabad is the holy place of Mahatma Gandhi, but it is surprising that people with such ideology have been born in this land, who are thinking of destroying Gandhi ji's ideology."
This story was first published by BOOM and then republished by Deccan Chronicle as part of Shakti Collective.
