False: Rahul Gandhi claims that he spoke to Mahatma Gandhi.

By: Shreyashi Roy
August 18 2022

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Context:

A short clip featuring Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is being shared on social media platforms claiming the Wayanad MP said he had a conversation with Mahatma Gandhi. In the 42-second clip, he appears to say that he had a discussion with ‘Gandhi ji’ on a particular topic. Many people have shared the clip mocking the Opposition leader and questioning the integrity of the former's statement. Several users have scoffed at Rahul Gandhi, given that Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 and the Congress leader was born in 1970.

In fact

In reality, Rahul Gandhi was not talking about himself but was referring to his great-grandfather and India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru mentioning Mahatma Gandhi in a letter. A report by The Economic Times that the clip is from a longer speech delivered by Rahul Gandhi at the Congress' Chintan Shivir held in Gujarat in February 2022. The completer 31-minute long speech of the leader is also available on Congress' YouTube channel.

The full video makes it clear that Gandhi was talking about a letter that Nehru had written to someone, in which he mentioned a conundrum Nehru faced after discussing an issue with Mahatma Gandhi. In his speech, Rahul Gandhi provides the context of the letter, which has been omitted in the edited clip that is doing rounds on social media.

The verdict

Rahul Gandhi never said that he spoke to Mahatma Gandhi. An old speech from February 2022 where he talks about an incident involving Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi has been clipped and is being shared with the false spin.