The short answer is no. The long answer is Congress in its desperation has stooped so low that they are not even trying to be believable in coming up with accusations. Today afternoon, Congress IT-cell member Gaurav Pandhi shared a maliciously edited video on Twitter with a portion of Prime Minister Modi’s speech playing on the loop to make it sound like it is an abusive term. He was corrected by many people that what he is claiming is incorrect.
https://twitter.com/GauravPandhi/status/1119905666670288896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
In the above clip, PM Modi says in Gujarati, “Loko em keh chhe bhavishya ma ladaiyo paani thavain chhe. Ala bhai badha koh chho paani ni ladai thavain chhe to pachhi ame atyar thi paani pehla paal kem na bandhiye?” (People are saying that in future the world will fight over water. If people are going to fight over water in future, why don’t we build a dam before such a crisis arise?)
The portion “thavain chhe” which means “will happen (or take place)” if put on loop very fast would sound like an abusive word. Much like playing the word ‘Pandhi’ on loop really, really fast could make it sound like ‘Pidi’.
Pandhi was corrected by many people, including The Quint, which had live-streamed PM Modi’s speech, portion of which was maliciously edited by Pandhi.
https://twitter.com/TheQuint/status/1119978043634745347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
He was repeatedly corrected by people.
https://twitter.com/sohinigr/status/1119980657382436864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Altnews founder, too, had corrected Pandhi.
https://twitter.com/free_thinker/status/1119912908870365186?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Pandhi still decided to brazen it out.
https://twitter.com/free_thinker/status/1119913864345399297?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
However, by the time this report is published, AltNews has not done a fact-check on Pandhi’s misinformation.
But by now, other Congress-friendly people and Pidi aspirants also joined in.
https://twitter.com/sidmtweets/status/1119986956870541312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
However, since these were non-Gujaratis and perhaps could be given the benefit of doubt of not understanding the nuances of colloquial language even if one knows it is willful sharing of misinformation and fake news. But, Gujarat Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia, who is a Gujarati himself, joining in and giving legitimacy to this falsehood is a new low in this election season.
https://twitter.com/arjunmodhwadia/status/1119971515297095680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Gujarat goes to vote for the ongoing general elections on Tuesday, April 23. It is just unfortunate and sad that Gujarat Congress has resorted to such cheap tactics which hold absolutely no water.