At a recent rally in Karimnagar in Telangana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has "stopped" talking about Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani.
Friends, you must have seen that for the last five years, the prince of Congress (Rahul Gandhi) used to start chanting as soon as he woke up in the morning. Ever since his Rafale case got grounded, he has started a new chant. For the last five years, he used to chant the names of five industrialists. Then, he slowly started talking about Ambani-Adani. But, since the elections have been declared, he has stopped criticising Ambani and Adani. Today I want to ask the people of Telangana whether this prince can declare how much wealth he has collected from Ambani-Adani for this election? How many sacks of black money have you taken? Has a van full of notes reached for Congress? What's the deal, that you stopped criticizing Adani-Ambani overnight? There is definitely something fishy here.PM Narendra Modi, Karimnagar, Telangana
Is this true?: Team WebQoof went through Rahul Gandhi's speeches from 20 April to the present and found multiple mentions of Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, hence, the Prime Minister's claim is false.
How did we find out?: We went on Congress's and Rahul Gandhi's YouTube page and started locating speeches from 19 April to the present.
19 April was the first phase of polling for the Lok Sabha elections.
Following are instances in the given timeline where we found Rahul Gandhi talking about the two industrialists:
Instance 1: On 20 April, Rahul Gandhi addressed a public meeting in Bhagalpur in Bihar. At 5:47 minutes of the speech, Gandhi mentioned 'Ambani-Adani.' He spoke about how the two industrialists have enormous wealth, whereas the poor, farmers and labourers do not have a sizeable income. He attributed the Ambani-Adani's wealth to PM Modi.
Instance 2: On the same date, Rahul Gandhi also addressed a meeting in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh. At 1:23 minutes into the speech, Rahul Gandhi mentions how Gautam Adani's group has control over airports, ports, mines, electricity, defence industry of the country.
Instance 3: On 24 April, addressing a rally in Solapur, Maharashtra, Gandhi spoke against the two industrialists in his speech. At 6:36 minutes, he talks about how Gautam Adani and the poor people of the country pay the same amount of the Goods and Service Tax (GST), which was introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Instance 4: On 26 April, Rahul Gandhi addressed a public meeting in Bijapur, Karnataka. At 12:47 minutes, Rahul Gandhi said that Prime Minister Modi has helped the rich get richer by handing over all the contracts of arenas like airports, ports, solar power to the "people like Adani."
Instance 5: On 28 April, Rahul Gandhi presented a speech in Kendrapara, Odisha where he also spoke about Adani. At 10:45 minutes, he mentions how Adani was given control and money of the people of Odisha. This was done by PM Modi and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, he said.
Instance 6: On the same date, Gandhi spoke to the public in Daman and Diu. He mentioned the industrialist in his speech even there. At 14:32 minutes, he mentions that the government only wants to help a handful of rich people of the country. He said, "They want Adani's name to be put up in the beautiful beaches and locations of Daman and Diu."
Instance 7: On 29 April, Rahul Gandhi addressed a gathering in Patan, Gujarat. At 9:18 minutes, he mentions that people like Adani and Ambani own as much wealth as the 70 crore Indians.
Instance 8: On the same date, Gandhi also addressed a rally at Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh. Around 18:25 minutes, he said the BJP's ideology is only to help a handful of people. He went on to say that their ideology is to give people like Ambani-Adani the wealth, land and forests of this country.
Instance 9: On 30 April, Gandhi spoke at a rally in Bhind, Madhya Pradesh (MP). Around 24:48 minutes of the speech, he mentioned how only two to three "arabpatis" have access to all the arenas in the country. Gandhi said that Adani owns railways, solar power, roads and electricity. He added that the farm laws were enacted for people like Ambani-Adani.
Instance 10: On 2 May, Rahul Gandhi spoke to the people in Shivamogga, Karnataka. Around 36:44 minutes of his speech, Gandhi said the government took the people's money and filled the pockets of few people like Ambani and Adani.
Instance 11: The Congress leader addressed a public meeting in Pune, Maharashtra on 3 May. Around 11:03 minutes, he mentioned the the media in the country is controlled by Gautam Adani hence, it does not show issues such as farmers suicides, inflation and plight of agriculture in the country. Around 12:39 minutes, Gandhi said that the media is not of the people, it is Adani's and hence, they do whatever the industrialists say.
Instance 12: On 5 May, Rahul Gandhi addressed a crowd at Gadwal in Telangana. Around 31:33 minutes, Gandhi mentioned that in the last ten years of BJP's governance, whatever PM Modi has done is for the "arabpatis" of the country. Mentioning Adani, he said that it is for people like him that PM Modi has let go of their loans and given them control over the airports and industries of the country. He drew a comparison and mentioned that the BJP government does not let go of the loans of farmers and labourers.
Instance 13: Addressing a rally in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh on 6 May, Rahul Gandhi did mention Adani and Ambani in his speech. Around 15:13 minutes, he said that if the Constitution was abolished then all the rights the people will disappear and destroyed. He said, "Your land, your water, your forests, reservation, public sector, everything will disappear and India will be ruled by 22-25 people." He mentioned people like Adani have eyes are on your land, forest and water and want them to be handed over to them.
Instance 14: On 7 May, Rahul Gandhi spoke at two rallies in Chaibasa and Gumla in Jharkhand.
At 25:50 minutes of his speech at Chaibasa, Rahul said, "The Constitution gives you reservation, jobs, education to your children and treatment to your children. If this disappears, then, the tribals will be left with nowhere." He mentioned that Dalits and backward classes will have no place, everything will go into the hands of a few billionaires such as Adani, who had his eyes on the people's forests, land and water.
In the speech delivered in Gumla, around 24:14 minutes, Rahul Gandhi said, "BJP says you are a forest dweller and then they give the entire forest to Adani."
Congress's response to PM Modi's claim: Hours after PM Modi's statement, Rahul Gandhi posted a video on his social media platforms asking the Prime Minister how he knew about black money being transported in vans and whether he had any personal experience with it. He also told the PM that he should send the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to look into the matter.
On their YouTube page, Congress also posted a timeline video of Gandhi's speeches from May where he had mentioned Adani and Ambani, as well.
Conclusion: PM Modi's claim that Rahul Gandhi had stopped mentioning Ambani-Adani's name in his speeches is false.
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