Guwahati: A video falsely depicting Rahul Gandhi as endorsing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its efforts to protect India’s democracy and Constitution has been circulating online. BOOM’s investigation revealed that the video is doctored, with audio manipulated by splicing and stitching together different segments. The original footage actually shows Gandhi criticizing the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In the viral clip, Gandhi appears to say, “Namaskar, I’m Rahul Gandhi, this election is about saving democracy and the Constitution. On the one hand, the Congress Party and I.N.D.I.A alliance are destroying it. On the other side, the RSS and BJP are saving the Constitution and democracy. While Congress has made 20-25 people billionaires, Modi ji aims to make millions of women and youth millionaires. Support BJP and RSS to save the Constitution. Press the button for Narendra Modi ji.” This misleading video is being shared on Facebook with claims that Gandhi endorsed Modi.
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BOOM found the original video, posted on April 25, 2024, with the caption, “In this election to protect the Constitution and democracy, Coming out of the ‘Mitra Kaal’, in the election to form the ‘Government of Indians’… Do your duty towards democracy. Come join the Congress. Press the hand button!” In the authentic video, Gandhi says, “Namaskar, I’m Rahul Gandhi, this election is about saving democracy and the Constitution. On the one hand, the Congress Party and I.N.D.I.A alliance are saving it. On the other side, the RSS and BJP are destroying the Constitution and democracy. While Modiji has made 20-25 people billionaires, we aim to make millions of women and youth millionaires. We are going to provide legal MSP to farmers and waive off their loans, we are going to give laborers a minimum wage of 400 rupees. This is a manifesto to change the country. Support the Congress to save the Constitution. Press the hand symbol button.”
The doctored video replaces mentions of the Congress Party with BJP and Modi ji, and swaps the criticism of BJP with praise. The full original video can be seen below.
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Additionally, BOOM analyzed the viral video using Itisaar, a deepfake detection tool developed by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jodhpur. The analysis confirmed that while the video is not a deepfake, the audio has been significantly altered.
This story is republished from Boom as part of the Shakti Collective. Read the original story here.