Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Ever since its beginning, Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo yatra has attracted much misinformation on social media. The latest is a video showing former union minister and Congress leader Jitendra Singh Alwar bending down, purportedly ‘to tie up Gandhi’s shoe laces’. The claim was shared by many pages affiliated with the BJP, including state units and party office holders. Newschecker found that the claim was false.
Fact check/ Verification
On searching social media, Newschecker found tweets by Congress leader Supriya Shrinate that pointed out that the viral video shared by the BJP leaders lacked key context. Sharing another angle of the video, Shrinate wrote in Hindi, “Liar has been caught again. But in reality BJP President Nadda and PM Modi are getting this pawn to lie. So now all three should also apologise. Delete your Tweet Amit Malviya – Mastermind of Fake News Have you gone crazy with the success of Bharat Jodo Yatra?”
The video shared by Shrinate shows Jitendra Singh Alwar bending down and picking up his own shoe laces while Rahul Gandhi is still a few feet away.
Another video, tweeted by Network 18 journalist Aman Chopra, shows the same incident from another angle, showing the sequence of events before Jitendra Singh bends down. In this video, one can clearly see Rahul Gandhi calling out to Jitendra Singh and pointing out something ahead. The line of sight of the woman next to Gandhi clearly shows that Gandhi was pointing to Jitendra Singh’s feet. Singh is immediately seen bending down in the video.
Prashant Pratap, the tech head of Congress social media unit also shared a zoomed-in version of the same video in response to Aman Chopra’s tweet, which clearly shows the above mentioned sequence.
Reading these videos together with the video tweeted by Supriya Shrinate, we can see that Jitendra Singh crouched down to tie his own shoe laces after Rahul Gandhi pointed it out.
The same sequence of events have also been clarified by Jitendra Singh Alwar, in a video statement that was shared by INC India on their Twitter page.
Conclusion
A video of Congress leader Jitendra Singh Alwar, bending down to tie his own shoe laces, have been shared out of context to claim that the leader was trying up Rahul Gandhi’s shoe laces.
Result: False
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Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
