Did Rahul Gandhi Accept Pushing BJP MPs Outside Parliament in This Clip? No!

The longer version showed Gandhi answering a question which sought details about whether Kharge was also pushed.

Fact-Check | The video is shared on the internet with a misleading context.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video of Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is being shared on the internet to claim that he accepted pushing Members of Parliament (MPs), which allegedly led to two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders getting injured.

Who shared it?: BJP MP Anurag Thakur, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla (archive here), and other X (formerly Twitter) handles shared the clip with the same claim.

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

The above post had garnered over four lakh views on the platform. More archives of similar claims can be found here and here.

Is this claim true?: The claim is misleading. A longer version showed Gandhi accepting that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge was also pushed, when asked by the journalists.

How did we find that out?: We noticed the watermark of ANI (Asian News International) on the tip right-corner of the video.

• On going through the X handle of the media agency, we found the full version of Gandhi's statements to the press.

• In the beginning of the video, journalists could be heard asking Gandhi about the allegations. To this, he replies, "No, no, see, I don't know, maybe it will be there in your camera. This is the Parliament entrance, I was trying to go inside, then BJP MPs tried stopping me, pushed me, and threatened me."

• Following this, one can hear a few journalists asking if Mallikarjun Kharge was also pushed. This is where Gandhi agrees that the former was pushed. He says, "Yes, this has happened. But nothing happens with such jostling."

The caption corroborated the findings: ANI shared the clip with a caption that said, "#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."

• It further added, "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."

• This corroborated our findings that Gandhi's acceptance was indeed towards a question that inquired about Kharge being pushed as well.

• The media agency's website, too, shared the same details.

The report was published on 19 December.

(Source: ANI/Screenshot)

What is the controversy about?: An NDTV report said that the BJP has levelled allegations against Gandhi claiming that he pushed an MP who fell on Pratap Chandra Sarangi, which led to Sarangi getting injured.

• Another BJP leader Mukesh Rajput was injured during the incident. Both of them have been admitted to the hospital.

• Gandhi, while defending himself, alleged that he was pushed while he was trying to enter the Parliament.

Conclusion: It is evident that the clip has been shared with a misleading context.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818 , or e-mail it to us at [e-mail] and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)