Fact Check: Video claiming Rahul Gandhi was caught asleep in Parliament is misleading
An edited video of a parliament session on Waqf bill falsely claims Rahul Gandhi fell asleep in the House
Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal has remained on the boil ever since a court ordered survey of Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid on November 19 which led to protests and clashes, leaving four dead and many injured.
The BJP-led government is being criticized by the Congress leaders after Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were stopped by police on Gazipur border en route to meet the victim’s families on Wednesday. Speaking to ANI, Shashi Tharoor said “This government does not want leaders to interact with the people (in violence-hit Sambhal).”
Amidst the recent developments, a video clip is being widely shared on social media platform X claiming that opposition leader in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was caught “sleeping peacefully” in Parliament. It shows Gandhi allegedly asleep while Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju was replying to the proposed legislation in the House.
The video clip shared by X users @Atheist_Krishna and @ManojSr60583090 has quickly gained traction with nearly a million views and over 5.5k reshares combined together.
Sharing the clip, @Atheist_Krishna tweeted, “Look at this fascist government. They are not even allowing a 54-year-old YUVA NETA to sleep peacefully in the Parliament.”
The viral claim can be seen here and here.
The archived link is available here.
Fact Check:
During the investigation, the Telugu Post fact check team found this claim to be misleading.
When we searched with relevant keywords, we found that the viral video clip is related to a discussion on the Waqf Amendment Bill on Thursday, August 8, 2024.
In his reply to the discussion on the Waqf Amendment Bill, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju says, “A while ago Dada asked me if there were any Muslim voters in my constituency. Yes, there are many Muslim voters in my constituency.”
As Kiren Rijiju continues his speech, a BJP member, Giriraj Singh, says in Hindi ‘so gaye, so gaye’ (fallen asleep, fallen asleep) while pointing at the Opposition benches. You can see the leader making a remark at 54:13 (timestamp).
The Sansad TV (Lok Sabha) video does not show any member from the opposition benches, including Rahul Gandhi, when the treasury benches were making fun of the opposition leader. It is not clear which parliamentarian Giriraj was pointing at for falling asleep during the discussion.
Subsequently, the Union minister adds, “That's why I tell you not to speak in between or not to try and interrupt repeatedly as it will make you fall asleep.”
It may be noted here that “Dada” is an endearment term used to affectionately address an older brother or used for an elder person.
We found a tweet from August 8 in which a user on X shared the same video clip and noted that the “TMC MP Saugata Roy raised questions about muslim voters on Waqf amendment & slept when Kiren Rijiju started answering.”
It is presumed that the BJP minister was referring to the Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy but not Rahul Gandhi.
We then searched for other videos where Kiren Rijiju addressed the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as “Dada”. The below video clarifies that the BJP minister did not call the opposition leader as ‘Dada.’
We can see that the Union Minister for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju begins his speech at 14:08
The seating arrangement in Lok Sabha shows Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seated in the left row, TMC MP Sougata Roy in the middle and Union minister Kiren Rijiju on the right. Given the seating position and the way the BJP leader pointed at the opposition leader and Rijiju addressing him ‘Dada’, it is quite evident that the treasury benches were not referring to Rahul Gandhi for sleeping while a discussion was underway on the Waqf Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha.
Hence, the claim made in the edited viral video is misleading.