During the INDIA bloc’s ‘Bihar Bandh’ rally in Patna on July 9, security personnel prevented Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar and Pappu Yadav from boarding the protest vehicle carrying Rahul Gandhi, prompting speculation about coordination issues within the opposition alliance
In the above context, a video of Kanhaiya has gone viral on social media in which he is heard saying, “King’s son won’t become king. In a democracy, votes will decide who will be our leader. And this democracy is the foundation of India.”
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “Why is Kanhaiya Kumar cursing Rahul Gandhi? Is he going to change the party? Now Rahul Gandhi must have understood, not everyone with a red flag is loyal!” (Translated from Hindi)
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The video is old and is being shared out of context.
On a Google reverse image search, we found the full-length video was shared by News 24 Bihar and Jharkhand on July 29, 2023. At around the 1:23-minute mark, one can hear Kanhaiya making the viral statement.
The Hindi title of the video, when translated, reads, “The son of a raja can’t become a raja.” In the speech, he said that India being a democracy, it is not possible for the ‘son of the king’ to become the ‘king’, and it is the people who will decide who will become the king.
In the video, he said, “The Gandhian method is that truth does not need any evidence and the Gandhian method is that you do not need to speak. Action should be your communication. All those things should be visible in your action. Say one thing, I will come to you wearing a very expensive shirt, wearing a big gold coin, driving a car worth five crores and stand on the stage and give a speech on poverty. Please trust us. Action is communication. We will have to make our action a communication, and our communication is very clear that this country was for everyone, is for everyone and will remain for everyone. This is our resolution. We resolve that any person born in this country, whatever his caste, any person born in this country, whatever his gender, any person born in this country, whatever his religion, is a citizen of this country and being a citizen means that the son of a king will not become a king. In a democracy, it will be decided by vote who will become our ruler. And this democracy is the foundation of India. Every single worker of the Youth Congress will have to save this democracy.” (Translated from Hindi)
We found that the video was also shared by One India on July 28, 2023, with the Hindi title, ‘Kanhaiya Kumar gave befitting reply to PM Modi.’
A video of the incident was also livestreamed by the Facebook page of the Indian Youth Congress on July 27, 2023. The video was shared with a caption that reads, “Behtar Bharat Ki Buniyad IYC Youth Convention, Bengaluru.”
There is no mention of Rahul Gandhi in the speech.
What was Kanhaiya Kumar’s reaction to the snub during the recent rally?
We found that Kanhaiya Kumar responded to the incident of not being allowed on the vehicle. He said, “This is not an issue; this is a non-issue. There is no dispute of any kind between us. I came out on the road to protect the voting of the voters of Bihar, not to climb on the truck.”
Hence, we found that the claim is false.
