Rahul Gandhi did not say that Sonia Gandhi’s father spent 15 years in jail for India’s cause - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 3, 2022
A post is being shared widely on social media with a claim that Rahul Gandhi said that his maternal grandfather (Sonia Gandhi’s father) spent 15 years in jail for the cause of India. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Rahul Gandhi said that his maternal grandfather spent 15 years in jail for the cause of India.
Fact: In his recent speech in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi spoke about his great-grandfather, grandmother, and father. He mentioned that his great-grandfather Nehru had spent 15 years in jail for India’s cause. He did not talk about his maternal grandfather (Sonia Gandhi’s father). Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
With the claim in the post, a screenshot of ‘Aaj Tak’ news is being shared. On watching the video (archived) posted by ‘Aaj Tak’ YouTube channel, it was found that they actually wrote ‘नाना’ in their news. However, in the video, one can hear that Rahul Gandhi say ‘great-grandfather’ in English (regarding Nehru), not ‘grandfather’/ ‘नाना’ (maternal side – Sonia Gandhi’s father). Also, in the ‘Aaj Tak’ news article, it is written that Rahul Gandhi spoke about his great-grandfather (‘परनाना’). Several news articles have also reported that Rahul Gandhi spoke about his great-grandfather Nehru spending 15 years in jail for the cause of India’s freedom. They can be read here and here.
Also, in the Lok Sabha debate documents, it can be found that Rahul Gandhi mentioned his great-grandfather, grandmother, and father in his speech. He did not talk about his maternal grandfather (Sonia Gandhi’s father).
To sum it up, Rahul Gandhi did not say that Sonia Gandhi’s father spent 15 years in jail for India’s cause. He said that his great-grandfather Nehru spent 15 years in jail.