BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra tweeted a cropped video of a recent Congress rally where the azan can be heard playing from the dais, however a longer version of the video shows prayers of other faiths were also recited.
The video is going viral with a claim that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and the Congress party played the azan to appease the Muslim community
One of the videos in the collage shows Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other Congress functionaries standing on the stage as azan is being recited in background. The other video shows a reporter speaking to a group of men who appear to be upset at the azan being played at the rally.
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Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had addressed the Kisan Nyay rally in Varanasi on October 10. A clipped portion from the same rally is now viral with misleading claims.
Tweeting the set of videos, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sambit Patra commented 'So Priyanka Vadra and Congress ..did this in their Varanasi Rally on 14 Oct to appease'.
Patra also shared the video from his official Facebook page.
The video has been shared with the same caption from multiple Twitter handles.
The same video has been shared from Facebook with similar claims in Hindi.
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Azan From Dais At Congress Rally? Fact Check
BOOM checked the one-an-half hour long full video of the Congress rally held in Varanasi, UP on October 10. The video had been uploaded on the official YouTube page of Congress with a title 'LIVE: Smt Priyanka Gandhi addresses Kisan Nyay Rally in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh'.
In the first 30 seconds of the video, the audio is missing. Thereafter, a Congress worker can be seen addressing the public. At the timestamp of 0.58, the Congress worker can be heard saying in Hindi 'First of all, as it has been our tradition... Congress party has always believed that all religions are equal.. So first of all I would request my friend from the Hindu religion who have come here to recite the mantras ... then our Muslim brothers, then our Sikh brothers and then the Christian brothers will welcome from there and then come over here and meet'.
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(Hindi: सबसे पहले हम अपनी परम्पराओं के अनुसार ... कांग्रेस पार्टी का हमेशा रहा है कि सर्व धर्म सद्भाव हम अपनाते रहें हैं तो सबसे पहले हमारे हिन्दू धर्म के जो साथी यहाँ पर आएं हैं उनसे मैं निवेदन करता हूँ कि मंत्रोचार के साथ जो है ... फिर हमारे मुस्लिम भाई फिर हमारे सिख भाई फिर हमारे ईसाई भाई जो हैं वो वहाँ पर स्वागत करेंगे और फिर आ के यहां पे भेंट करेंगे)
Between the timestamps 1.53 and 5.03, the video is not audible again. At 5.04, the audio returns and chants of 'Har Har Mahadev' is audible.
The azan starts at the timestamp of 5.44 onwards and is followed by Sikh prayer (Gurbani). Later, the Congress workers welcome Priyanka Gandhi.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra addresses the public at timestamp 54.50 and recites a Durga chant.
BOOM also obtained another video from the same rally where recital of mantras can be heard.
We also spoke to the Hindu priest - Mukesh Pandey - who had presided over the rituals during the October 10 th rally and confirmed that the event had begun with the recital of mantras.
Speaking to BOOM, Pandey said, "This is the tradition of Kashi - that of Ganga Jamuni tehzeeb - in which people from all four faiths had performed prayers. There were no personal prayers. There were 11 priests from Kashi who recited the mantras at the beginning of the event which was followed by the Muslim community and Sikh community. These prayers were done for bringing peace upon Kashi and the world."
Pandey added that these were not special prayers conducted for Priyanka Gandhi or any party but for world peace.
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