The fifth phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections concluded on Monday, 20 May. Following this, a video of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat praising the role of Congress in India's independence went viral on social media where users claimed this video to be recent.
What is he saying?: Bhagwat says, "The people in our country have little political awareness. They do know who is in power and the significance of power. But there should be political awareness among the people of this country. And that is why a major movement in the form of the Congress emerged across the country. It also involved many great men who continue to inspire our lives today. And that movement set the common people on the path to freedom. It contributed majorly to our independence movement."
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: X(formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)
What's the truth?: This video indeed shows Bhagwat praising Congress party's role during independence but it dates back to 2018.
It is also unrelated to the Lok Sabha elections 2024.
How did we find out the truth?: Firstly, we noticed the date 17 September 2018 appearing in the left top corner of the video, along with the logos of Hindustan Times and Asian News International (ANI) at the right top corner.
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We noticed a few things in the viral video.
(Source: Altered by The Quint)
Taking a cue, we ran a relevant keyword search using 'Congress role in India's freedom, Mohan Bhagwat HT' on Google.
This led us to the exact video that is going viral now, and the statements in both videos matched.
This was shared on 18 September 2018.
It showed Bhagwat delivering a speech during a three-day lecture series held by RSS in Delhi.
Sansad TV also shared the longer version of the video from the event.
Conclusion: An old video of Mohan Bhagwat praising Congress' role during independence is going viral as recent.
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