DigitEye India Fact Checkers
Soon after Union home minister Amit Shah’s remarks on B R Ambedkar in parliament, the Opposition has been up in arms against the BJP staging protests in and outside the Parliament building. One such protest on Thursday resulted in pushing and jostling in which some MPs were hurt.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to the Lok Sabha Speaker that he suffered a knee injury during the incident. At the same time, BJP’s Pratap Sarangi and Mukesh Rajput said they were hurt and reportedly been admitted to Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. BJP MP Pratap Sarangi told ANI: “I was standing near the stairs when Rahul Gandhi came and pushed an MP who then fell on me…”.
In this context, a video was shared by BJP leaders showing Rahul Gandhi responding to reporters, in which he can be heard saying, “Haan kiya hai, kiya hai, magar thik hai… dhakka-mukki se humein kuch hota nahi hai…” (Yes, it happened, it happened but it’s alright, we are not perturbed by scuffles…).
राहुल गांधी ख़ुद मान रहे हैं कि उन्होंने धक्कामुक्की की है, और बड़ी बेशर्मी से कह रहे हैं कि धक्का मुक्की से कुछ नहीं होता।
इनके धक्के से एक वरिष्ठ सांसद का सर फट गया, दो सांसद अस्पताल में भर्ती हैं और राहुल जी कह रहे धक्के से कुछ नहीं होता।
अहंकार, अत्याचार और तानाशाही गांधी… pic.twitter.com/MSD8UZey55
— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) December 19, 2024
BJP MP Anurag Thakur captioned the post in Hindi that said: “राहुल गांधी ख़ुद मान रहे हैं कि उन्होंने धक्कामुक्की की है, और बड़ी बेशर्मी से कह रहे हैं कि धक्का मुक्की से कुछ नहीं होता। इनके धक्के से एक वरिष्ठ सांसद का सर फट गया, दो सांसद अस्पताल में भर्ती हैं और राहुल जी कह रहे धक्के से कुछ नहीं होता। अहंकार, अत्याचार और तानाशाही गांधी.”
Translated into English, it reads: “Rahul Gandhi himself is admitting that he has pushed, and is shamelessly saying that nothing is achieved by pushing. Due to his push, a senior MP’s head got fractured, two MPs are admitted in hospital and Rahul ji is saying that nothing happens due to push. Arrogance, tyranny and dictatorship run in the veins of the Gandhi family…shameful.”
Several BJP leaders shared the same video on X here and here, claiming “Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi admits on camera to having assaulted BJP MP Pratap Sarangi…” and sought criminal charges against him.
FACT-CHECK
As the video started going viral, Digiteye India sought to fact-check the claims and found the original full video uploaded on X by ANI here:
#WATCH | Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi says, “This might be on your camera. I was trying to go inside through the Parliament entrance, BJP MPs were trying to stop me, push me and threaten me. So this happened…Yes, this has happened (Mallikarjun Kharge being pushed). But we do not… https://t.co/q1RSr2BWqu pic.twitter.com/ZKDWbIY6D6
— ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2024
The reporter asked Rahul Gandhi whether Kharge was subjected to jostling and shoving? “Kharge ji ke saath dhakka-mukki hui hai?” and in response, Rahul Gandhi can be heard saying: “… Haan kiya hai, kiya hai, magar thik hai… dhakka-mukki se humein kuch hota nahi hai…” (Yes, it happened, it happened, but it’s fine… the pushing and shoving does not affect us).
As per the ANI transcript, Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi clearly says, “This might be on your camera. I was trying to go inside through the Parliament entrance, BJP MPs were trying to stop me, push me and threaten me. So this happened…Yes, this has happened (Mallikarjun Kharge being pushed). But we do not get affected by jostling. But this is the entrance and we have the right to go in. BJP MPs were trying to stop us from going in…The central issue is that they are attacking the Constitution and insulting the memory of Ambedkar ji.”
Hence, Rahul Gandhi admitted to Mallikarjun Kharge being pushed around, and not himself pushing the BJP MPs as claimed. Hence, the claim is false.
Claim: Video shows Rahul Gandhi admitted to pushing BJP MPs on camera.
Conclusion: Misrepresentation. Rahul Gandhi admitted to Mallikarjun Kharge being pushed around, not himself pushing BJP MPs.
Rating: Misrepresentation —
