India reported 188 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. No new death was reported and there are 3,468 active cases in the country. Authorities are currently on alert due to a rise in cases in China and elsewhere in the country.
Meanwhile, a 30 seconds video clip of Gandhi and the Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar is getting viral on social media. Gandhi can be heard saying in Hindi, “They are framing new excuses to stop the Yatra. They are saying: wear the mask, stop the Yatra, Covid-19 cases are rising again. All these are silly excuses.” This is followed by a video of Kumar saying in Hindi, “Someone please explain to these fools that Corona is not an excuse, it is a disease.”
Sharing this video netizens are claiming that Kanhaiya Kumar called Rahul Gandhi a fool.
Many verified users on Twitter shared this claim.
Rohit Chahal writes, “Someone explains to this big fool Rahul Gandhi.” (English Translation)
Another verified user Major Surendra Poonia writes, “Big fool..Kanhaiya Kumar is saying.” (English Translation)
Many other users too shared the same video with different captions.
Fact Check:
DFRAC team did a keyword search and found a tweet on news agency ANI dated December 22.
The tweet states “…It’s their (BJP) new idea, they wrote a letter to me saying COVID is coming & stop the Yatra. All these are excuses to stop this Yatra, they are scared of India’s truth: Rahul Gandhi on Union health min’s letter pertaining to Covid protocols in Bharat Jodo Yatra.”
On December 23, a video of Kanhaiya Kumar’s speech was uploaded to Times Now’s official YouTube channel with the Headline, “Kanhaiya Kumar Mocks COVID-19 Norms | Calls Centre’s Advisory A Bid To Derail Bharat Jodo Yatra.”
At about 20 second mark, the Congress leader can be seen targeting PM Narendra Modi on Covid norms.
Kanhaiya Kumar Mocks COVID-19 Norms | Calls Centre’s Advisory A Bid To Derail Bharat Jodo Yatra
Conclusion:
In the video, Kanhaiya Kumar did not call Rahul Gandhi a big fool as claimed by social media users but was addressing Narendra Modi and BJP government in his speech. The speech was cropped and edited hence, is misleading.
Claim Review: Kanhaiya Kumar called Rahul Gandhi a fool.
Claimed by: @rohit_chahal,@MajorPoonia, and other social media users.
Fact check: misleading
