The same video was also shared elsewhere on X as well as on Facebook.
It was shared when parliament met for its first session since a national election that robbed the BJP of a parliamentary majority and forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi to rely on coalition partners to govern (archived link).
Gandhi — a scion of a dynasty that has given India three prime ministers — defied analysts’ expectations and exit polls to help his Congress party almost double to secure his parliamentary numbers and his position as leader of the Indian opposition.
The post had been vacant for a decade because two poor election results for the Congress, once India’s dominant party, meant that the opposition leader did not have to belong to a party that commands at least 10 percent of the lawmakers in the 543-seat Lok Sabha (the lower house of Parliament).
Gandhi regularly brandished the Constitution at election rallies, warning that Modi’s BJP wanted to drastically amend the text to support its Hindu nationalist policies.
Home Minister Amit Shah denied the allegation and told the local broadcaster NDTV the BJP government had no plans to amend the Constitution (archived link).
However, the video circulating on social media has been edited. Gandhi was not in the room when Thakur made his remarks.
Manipulated video
A keyword search led to the original video posted on the public broadcaster’s official YouTube channel Sansad TV on July 1, 2024 (archived link).
The video is titled: “Notes by Anurag Thakur | Acknowledgements on the President’s Speech in the 18th Lok Sabha”.
The addressgiven by the president is submitted to both houses of parliament during the first session after the general election and sets out the government’s agenda for the year.
The President of India addresses both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha at the beginning of the first session after each general election. The President’s speech essentially highlights the government’s policy priorities and plans for the year ahead. The speech provides a broad framework of the government’s agenda and direction.
Below is a screenshot of the edited video (left) and the Sansad TV video (right):
The edited video matches footage from the Sansad TV videos 56:36 point.
But – contrary to what can be seen in the edited video – Gandhi is not sitting in his seat in the front row of the opposition benches when they are shown at the 56:47 point.
Opposition strike
Gandhi is briefly seen in the 28 second mark of Thakur’s speech, in which he asked the Speaker of the Lok Sabha to “set aside a day for discussion on NEET after President’s speech.
He was referring to suspicions that exam papers for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) (NEET-UG) was leaked, compromising the integrity of the national medical entrance examination (archived link).
The Chairman then asks Gandhi to first table a memorandum before calling upon Thakur to proceed.
After Thakur resumed his speech, 3:16 pointthe opposition leaves the chamber.
Local media At Manorama also reported on the opposition strike (archived link).
The footage of Gandhi used in the edited video is from his own speech on the same day, on the 19:02 And 19:06 to notice (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison from the footage of Gandhi used in the edited video (left) and in the Sansad TV video (right):
AFP has debunked others false claims about Gandhi, who is often the target of disinformation in India.
