After polling in five of the seven voting phases in the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a video of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat praising the Congress party for its significant role in India’s freedom movement is circulating on social media. The claim accompanying the video suggests that Bhagwat has suddenly started praising the party in response to “shifting political sentiments” in the current general elections.
“People in our country have limited political understanding. Political awareness is essential because citizens should recognise who holds power and its significance. This is why a great movement in the form of the Congress party developed, producing prominent personalities who continue to inspire us today. That movement managed to inspire ordinary people to join the freedom struggle. It had a huge role in us achieving Independence,” Bhagwat is heard saying in the video.
A premium user who shared the video on X (archive) wrote, “Oh My Godse. Why is Mohan Bhagwat suddenly praising the Congress Party and its founding members all of a sudden?”
Fact check
NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading as the video is from an RSS outreach programme organised in 2018.
In the viral clip, we noticed the logo of Hindustan Times and the date 17 September 2018, flashing on the left top corner. Using these cues, we ran a specific keyword search and found that it was published on the newspaper’s YouTube channel on 18 September 2018. The video title read, “Congress played an important role in India’s freedom struggle, says Mohan Bhagwat.”
According to the channel, on 18 September 2018, RSS organised a three-day lecture series led by Bhagwat, in New Delhi. During his speech at the event, Bhagwat acknowledged the significant role the Congress party played in the freedom movement and highlighted that it produced many great personalities for India.
NDTV carried Bhawat’s statement in a video report published on 18 September 2018, titled “Mohan Bhagwat Opens RSS Outreach Event With Rare Praise For Congress.”
According to the channel, Bhawat had opened a three-day conclave in Delhi with a rare conciliatory tone for one of its harshest critics. He had praised the Congress party for the freedom movement and giving birth to great scarifying personalities.
The Indian Express, India Today, and The Times of India also reported this rare statement by Bhagwat in 2018.
Hence, we conclude that the video in question is around seven years old. The claim that the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has suddenly started praising the Congress party in the current general elections is misleading.
This story was originally published by Newsmeter as part of the Shakti Collective. Apart from the headline, excerpt and introduction, this story has not been edited by ThePrint staff.