Did Rahul Gandhi Say Children’s Names Were Being Deleted From Bihar Voter List?

Two statements have been put together to create the fabricated statement.

A statement purportedly made by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi stating that children have complained to him about their names being removed from the voter list in Bihar is going viral on the internet.

What's the statement?: It read, "6-7 year old boys come to me and whisper in my ear, 'Vote Chor, Gaddi Chor,' because their names have been cut from the voter lists".

The above post had gained over two lakh views on the platform. Archives of similar such claims could be found here, here, and here.

What are the facts?: The statement has been fabricated by stitching together two different remarks.

• The original video showed Gandhi talking about how six-year-old children have come to him and said 'Vote Chor, Gaddi Chodh' during the Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar.

How did we find that out?: We looked for recent press conferences held by the Congress party on YouTube and found a video published on its official YouTube handle on 24 August.

• The video was titled, "LIVE: Joint press briefing by Shri Rahul Gandhi and other Mahagathbandhan leaders | Bihar."

• At around the 17:27 timestamp, Gandhi could be heard saying, "They [Election Commission of India] should roam around in Bihar. We are meeting people everyday who are alive but declared dead on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and those who have voted five-six times but their names have now been removed. I don't know what the ECI is talking about. Some time back, somebody told me on the road that their name was removed."

• Gandhi proceeds to talk about an "interesting" factor that he came across in this yatra, which was different than the two previous yatras his party had undertaken

"Children are coming out, it's a very strange phenomenon. They are coming to me and whispering in my ears 'Vote Chor, Gaddi Chodh'. One after the other. These are not adults but children. Now, even a six-year-old kid are aware, not one, but thousands...The ECI should go and talk to these children. They will come to know. This is a very unique phenomenon."

Rahul Gandhi, LoP in Lok Sabha

Conclusion: Evidently, these were two different statements that had been stitched together to take a dig at the Congress leader.

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