DigitEye India Fact Checkers
A video of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is going viral in which he was shown promising to provide Rs. 1 lakh into bank accounts of women from economically weaker sections every month. It’s being shared with several remarks and interpretations on social media.
Rahul Gandhi is now promising Rs. 100,000 per month for the women.
At this point, even he’s clueless about what he’s uttering. pic.twitter.com/0TuX65G2vF
— Tushar Gupta (@Tushar15_) May 15, 2024
One X user wrote: “The majority of middle-class families in India earn below ₹12 lakh per annum. Rahul Gandhi wants them to vote for him so that, after taxing them heavily, he can pay ₹12 lakh per annum to the unemployed.”
FACT CHECK
Since the claim is quite an alarming one, we took it up and quickly searched for the original speech he made. A search for the video on Indian National Congress (INC) website revealed that the video clip was taken from the speech Rahul Gandhi made at Bolangir in Odisha on May 15. See the longer version here:
At 28:45-mark in the video, Rahul Gandhi begins focusing on women’s welfare measures promised by the Congress party. Stressing clearly that it was Rs.8,500 per month and Rs. 1 lakh per annum, he goes on explaining the process. Once the Congress forms the government on June 4, the date when election results would be declared, women from economically weaker sections in India will receive ₹ 8,500 per month in their bank accounts from July 4, totaling one lakh per year.
After taking out a woman’s name from the audience, he said, “On July 4, crores of women like Sushmita Sahu in Odisha, UP, Tamil Nadu, and every state in India, can check their bank accounts to find one month’s installment of ₹ 8,500 rupees deposited in their bank accounts.”
He further said that the money will be transferred every month, and in a year, one lakh would be given to women like Sahu. “One lakh rupees will be transferred to poor women’s bank accounts every month,” he stressed before terming it as progress in the video.
However, in the flow, at 30:38-mark to 30:50-mark in the timeframe, Rahul Gandhi said, “one lakh rupees will be transferred to India’s poor women’s bank accounts every month.” But the context makes it clear that the amount of Rs. 1 lakh is not for one month but for one year.
In fact, this promise has been stressed by Rahul Gandhi in every speech during his campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections.
Even the Congress Manifesto has mentioned clearly that the promise under Naari Nyay is for Rs. 1 lakh per annum. Considering the party’s stand, its manifesto and an elaborate explanation given by Rahul Gandhi in the entire video uploaded on INC website is self-explanatory. The clipped video has been shared on social media taking just one part of his entire speech. Hence, the claim is misleading.
Claim: Video clip shows Rahul Gandhi is now promising Rs. 100,000 per month for women.
Conclusion: The claim is false. The clipped video shows just a part of Rahul Gandhi’s speech while the full video reveals him explaining that the promise is for Rs. 8,500 per month, totaling Rs. 1 lakh per annum.
Rating: Misrepresentation — 
