A video from an election rally showing the Indian National Congress (INC) leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Mallikarjun Kharge, among others, on a stage is doing rounds on social media. In the 18-seconds-long clip, Sonia Gandhi can be seen walking towards the chairs and taking a seat along with Rahul Gandhi while Mallikarjun Kharge kept clapping and standing beside them on the dais.

The video, which doesn’t have any sound, is shared against the backdrop of the upcoming Karnataka Assembly Elections scheduled on May 10, followed by the results on May 13. The viral clip claims that Kharge was waiting for Sonia Gandhi’s approval to sit on the dais.

Amit Malviya, the in-charge of Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) National Information &Technology Department, shared the video on Twitter and captioned it, “Reminds me of the famous dialogue from Zanjeer… जब तक बैठने को नहीं कहा जाए, शराफ़त से खड़े रहो… A vote for Congress means letting Sonia and Rahul Gandhi run Karnataka by proxy! Don’t let that happen, Karnataka. You are too self respecting for that… Vote wisely on 10th.” The Twitter post has received around 485k views with over 1.7k retweets.

The official Twitter handle of BJP Karnataka shared the video and captioned, “Three generations of the Gandhi family have consistently disrespected Karnataka and its leaders: Indira humiliated Nijalingappa, Rajiv demeaned Veerendra Patil, and now Sonia-Rahul belittle Mallikarjun Kharge. This cycle of unrelenting humiliation will end on 10th May.”

Several others, including Kanchan Gupta, a Senior Advisor in the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting; Priti Gandhi, a BJP worker; Rupa Murthy, an associate with the Rashtriya Seva Sangh (RSS) and BJP, shared the video with the same narrative.

Claim:

Mallikarjun Kharge waited for Sonia Gandhi’s approval to sit on the dais during an election rally.

Fact Check:

The Logical Indian fact-check team verified the claim and found it misleading as the viral video is a cropped version of an election rally held by Congress in Hubbali, Karnataka, on May 6.

We looked at the social media handles of the Congress for any recent political rally held by the party in the poll-bound Karnataka. We came across the live stream of the rally held in Hubbali on May 6 on the official YouTube channel of the party. The video was titled, “LIVE: Joint mega rally | Hubballi, Karnataka |”, and its description read, “LIVE: Joint mega rally by Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, CPP Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji, and Shri Rahul Gandhi in Hubballi, Karnataka.”

In the extended video, the part of the viral clip begins at 22:28 time stamp where Sonia Gandhi finishes her speech, walks towards the chairs, and takes a seat along with Rahul Gandhi while Mallikarjun Kharge keeps clapping and stands beside them on the dais. However, in the original video, at 22:50 time stamp, Mallikarjun Kharge walks towards the podium and addresses the crowd while Sonia Gandhi and other Congress leaders stand in his honour. Moreover, at 22:53 time stamp, the host can be heard introducing Kharge as “अध्यक्ष”, which means “President”, before announcing his name.

Therefore, it can be concluded that the viral clip is edited to show Mallikarjun Kharge standing and waiting for Sonia Gandhi’s approval to sit on the dais. However, he was waiting for the host to complete the announcement so he could address the rally. Also, the video’s original audio is muted in the viral clip wherein the host can be heard introducing Kharge as the party’s president. Thus, a cropped version from a recent political rally held by Congress in poll-bound Karnataka is viral with a misleading claim.

Also Read: Bundles Of Notes Recovered From Tyre In Karnataka? Old Video Revived Ahead Of Assembly Elections

https://thelogicalindian.com/h-upload/2023/05/10/500x300_231458-new-project-2023-05-10t151228861.webp

Fact Check

2023-05-10 10:18:38.0

Edited Video Viral To Show Mallikarjun Kharge Waiting For Sonia Gandhi’s Approval To Sit During Election Rally