A video of Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav addressing a rally is being shared on social media platforms.
What does Yadav say?: "Do not vote for Congress also. The party is manipulative. Will you be careful or not? They have cheated us."
(Archives of similar claims can be found here, here and here.)
Is this true?: No, the claim is false as the video is not recent.
Yadav's speech is from November 2023 during the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections. Yadav’s statement came amid tensions between the INDIA bloc over seat distribution in MP.
How did we find out?: At first, we noticed the logo of news agency Asian News International (ANI) in the video.
We ran a relevant keyword search using words such as "congress chalu party akhilesh yadav ani" and came across a YouTube video by ANI from 5 November 2023.
In the 30-second video, Yadav said, "What are you getting here in ration? You are getting nothing in ration. So why will you vote for BJP? Do not vote for Congress also. The party is manipulative. Will you be careful or not? They have cheated us."
Yadav addressed a rally in Tikamgarh, MP during the elections.
A news report by the Hindustan Times also noted Yadav's attack on the Congress party. The newspaper reported that the spat came amid tensions between the Congress-SP over seat sharing in MP.
The Congress refused to allocate seats to Yadav's party in Madhya Pradesh, stating that the INDIA bloc was intended for national politics, not regional elections. Yadav described the party's decision as a 'betrayal', as reported by the Hindustan Times.
Congress-SP Joint Press Conference: On 17 April, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Yadav addressed a joint press conference in Ghaziabad.
In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress is contesting only 17 seats in an alliance with the SP.
As per ANI, Gandhi stated he initially thought BJP would secure around 180 seats, but now he believes they will obtain 150 seats. He also expressed confidence in their improvement based on reports from every state and highlighted their strong alliance in Uttar Pradesh, anticipating a strong performance.
According to ZeeNews, Yadav praised the Congress manifesto and stated that it includes several steps to eliminate poverty.
He stated his conviction that all political parties, especially those associated with the INDIA bloc are dedicated to ensuring the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and enhancing the income of farmers, ultimately reducing poverty.
Conclusion: Clearly, an old video of Yadav speaking against Congress is being falsely circulated as recent.
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