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| - Fact Check: Did Kanhaiya Kumar call Rahul Gandhi a fool? Video viral with MISLEADING context
AFWA's investigation found that in the original videos, both Congress leaders were targeting the BJP and the Centre.
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India Today Fact Check
Kanhaiya Kumar did not call Rahul Gandhi a fool. Kumar was talking about the BJP when he made the remarks and soon after praised Rahul Gandhi as well.
The highly transmissible BF.7 strain of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 seems to be behind the latest surge in infection globally. India logged 196 new coronavirus cases, with active cases increasing to 3,428, the Union Health Ministry notified on December 26.
Amid fears about another wave of infections in India, Congress and the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party have been locking the horn over the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi. Now, a video of Gandhi and the Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar has been shared by many on social media. In that 30-second-long clip, Gandhi can be heard saying in Hindi, "They are framing new excuses to stop the Yatra. They are saying: wear the mask, stop the Yatra, Covid-19 cases are rising again. All these are silly excuses." This is followed by a video of Kumar saying in Hindi, "Someone please explain to these fools that Corona is not an excuse, it is a disease."
Those sharing the video claimed that Kumar was calling Gandhi a fool. Archives of such tweets can be seen here and here.
AFWA's investigation found that in the original videos, both Congress leaders were targeting the BJP and the Centre.
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A keyword search on Twitter led us to a video shared by the news agency ANI on December 22. The tweet read "...It's their (BJP) new idea, they wrote a letter to me saying COVID is coming & stop the Yatra. All these are excuses to stop this Yatra, they are scared of India's truth: Rahul Gandhi on Union health min's letter pertaining to Covid protocols in Bharat Jodo Yatra."
In the video, at the 42-second mark, Gandhi said in Hindi, “They (the BJP) are framing new excuses to stop the Yatra. They are saying: wear the mask, stop the Yatra, Covid-19 cases are rising again. All these are silly excuses. They are scared of India's strength and India's truth. This is the truth. We have been walking for the last 100 days. Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and people from different communities are joining the Yatra."
The same day, Business Today, India Today, ABP Live, and others reported on this, all citing the ANI video. Per the reports, amid the recent Covid-19 scare, the Union health minister, Mansukh Mandaviya, wrote a letter to Gandhi, asking him to follow Covid-19 protocols during the Yatra. Responding to that letter, Gandhi hit back at the BJP and Cente and said, "They (the BJP) are scared".
On December 23, a video of Kanhaiya Kumar's speech was uploaded to Times Now's official YouTube channel with the title, "Kanhaiya Kumar Mocks COVID-19 Norms | Calls Centre's Advisory A Bid To Derail Bharat Jodo Yatra." At the 20-second mark, the Congress leader can be seen targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and saying "He (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) does not wear a mask while addressing any gathering. During the delta variant, he went to West Bengal for election but did not wear a mask. On the other hand, when he has online meetings with Chief Ministers on Zoom Calls, he puts a mask on his face. He thinks people are fools. Now they bring new excuses. Someone, please explain to these fools that Corona is not an excuse, it is a disease. It is a childish excuse. Rahul Gandhi was the first leader in this country who wrote a letter to the Government about this disease."
On the same day, The Quint and The Telegraph also reported on Kumar's statement. Both reports noted that Kumar was targeting the BJP.
Thus, it is clear that Kanhaiya Kumar did not call Rahul Gandhi a fool. He was talking about the BJP-led Centre.
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