Sambit Patra Shares Clipped Video of Congress' UP Rally To Claim 'Appeasement'

Hymns of different religions were recited at Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's Kisan Nyay rally held on 10 October.

A clipped video of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's rally in Varanasi was shared to falsely claim that hymn of only religion was recited at the event.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A compilation of two videos is being shared by several Twitter users, including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Spokesperson Sambit Patra, showing azan being recited at Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's rally in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi.

The claim along with the video suggested that Congress attempted to appease the minority community by doing so.

However, the claim is misleading as visuals from Gandhi Vadra's Kisan Nyay Rally, held on 10 October, showed that hymns of a number of religions were recited at the event.

CLAIM

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra shared a compilation of two videos with azan playing in the background in the video featuring Gandhi Vadra and other Congress leaders. The other video showed people telling a reporter that they aren't happy with azan playing at the rally.

You can view the archived version here.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/ Screenshot)

Patra wrote: "So Priyanka Vadra and Congress..did this in their Varanasi Rally on 14 Oct to appease...(sic)"

Later, he corrected the date to 10 October.

The same video was shared by BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya accusing the Congress of 'appeasement'.

Several Twitter users shared the video and the archived version of the posts can be found here, here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We found that the viral video is from Gandhi Vadra's Kisan Nyay rally in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi, the visuals of which were streamed live on Congress' social media handles on 10 October.

At 0:58 seconds in the live visuals, a man seen on the stage can be heard asking people from different religions to recite their respective hymns.

"Firstly, as per our tradition, Congress party has always believed that all religions are equal, so I would first ask our Hindu friends who are here to recite mantras... then our brothers from Muslim community, then our Sikh brothers, and our Christian brothers to welcome from there and then come here to meet," he said in Hindi.

HYMNS OF DIFFERENT RELIGIONS WERE RECITED

The video is not audible from 01:50-05:03 minutes. The azan can be heard from 05:43-08:33 minutes with Sikh prayer being recited from 08:40-09:35 minutes.

Later in the video, Gandhi Vadra addresses the gathering from 54:20 minutes onwards and at 54:51 minutes, she recites Durga stuti.

Further, The Quint's Piyush Rai had tweeted visuals on 10 October of the said address in Varanasi in which the Hindu mantras can be heard.

We also spoke to a local journalist Chandan Pandey who was present at the said rally. He confirmed to The Quint's WebQoof team that hymns of different religions were recited on 10 October.

"First, the people from Hindu community recited mantras, then people from Muslim community who were followed by Sikhs. People from the Christian community reached a bit late, hence they didn't say anything on mic but later gave their blessings to Priyanka Gandhi."

Chandan Pandey, local journalist

Evidently, a clipped video of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's rally in Varanasi was shared to falsely claim that hymns of only religion were recited at the event.

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