Fact-Check: Rahul Gandhi Blamed PM Modi for Eagles Flying? No, Video Is Clipped!

The original video is from 2020 and Gandhi's statements are presented with proper context.

Fact-Check: This video is clipped and presented without the full context.

(Source: Altered by The Quint) 

A video of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi speaking at a podium is being shared on social media.

• In the clip, Gandhi poses a question to the audience and asks why eagles were flying above, pointing at the sky.

• He then noted why the ‘eagles’ were flying and blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak (RSS), and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and how they are responsible for the situation.

What did he say?: "Please tell me one thing, why is this eagle flying here? What is the reason for this? The reason for this is Narendra Modi. The reason for this is RSS. The reason for this is BJP."

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: Instagram)

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

We received a query about this on our WhatsApp tipline number.

Is the claim true?: No, the claim is false as this video is clipped.

• The original video dates back to 5 February 2020 and these statements have been presented with proper context.

What we found: We ran a relevant keyword search and found the same speech where Gandhi was addressing an election campaign in Kondli, New Delhi, on 5 February 2020.

We went through the entire video and found the following:

• Gandhi spoke about the change in India's environment in the last few years in his speech from 2020.

• At 3:15 minutes, Gandhi can be heard saying, "What is the reason behind this. A lot of people will say that the reason is Narendra Modi. The reason is RSS and the reason is BJP. But I will want to look at it differently. The biggest reason is that the youth of the country doesn't have any aim. They are afraid of unemployment."

• At 10:12 minutes, Gandhi spoke about the eagles, as mentioned in the viral video. He compared how the common people faced poor living conditions, while the government gave tax benefits to the country's upper strata.

Here's what he said:

"Brother, tell me what are the eagles doing here? Why are they flying here? Can anybody say why the eagles are flying here? The dirt in this area, tell me how many crores of rupees you think will be needed to remove it? How many? Five crore, ten crore? A 10-year-old girl is saying it'll cost five crore. Okay, it might take 50 crores. Narendra Modi ji had waived off ₹1,30,000 crores taxes for the richest people of India a few days ago. You people stay in dirt all the time and the rich live in peace in castles and airplanes."

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

• Social media users have taken a few elements of Gandhi's old speech which have been altered to change the order, and combined them to create the viral video.

Conclusion: The viral video has been edited to put Gandhi’s statements without proper context.

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