A post is being shared on social media with a description that reads, ‘India can progress in the world only by following Gandhi’s path; Congress has taken this country far ahead-Ram Nath Kovind, Ex-President.’ Let’s verify these claims.
Claim: Ram Nath Kovind said that India could progress in the world only by following Gandhi’s path and that Congress has taken our country far ahead.
Fact: Ram Nath Kovind has never directly said what the post claims, but in his message to the nation on the eve of Gandhi Jayanthi, he said ‘Let us take a pledge that we will continue to strive for making India a country of his (Gandhi) dreams while adhering to his teachings, ideals and values.” In a different speech he gave on the eve of 2021 Republic Day, he spoke about the contributions of our freedom fighters. He has not said anything about the Congress party as claimed in the post. Hence the post is MISLEADING.
We searched the internet with relevant keywords and found several posts similar to the post; one even dates back to 2018. These posts can be seen here and here. We then searched to check if the former President has made those comments as the post claims. Had the former President of India made these statements, media would have reported the statement widely. But no relevant news reports were found to indicate that he made those statements about the Congress party.
Then we looked at various speeches of Ram Nath Kovind to further know if he had made such statements. Addressing the nation on the eve of Gandhi Jayanthi in 2021, the former President has said, “Let us take a pledge that we will continue to strive for making India a country of his dreams while adhering to his teachings, ideals and values.” However, he did not make the exact statement as claimed in the post.
From the message he gave on the eve of Gandhi Jayanthi in 2020, we found that he said, ‘On this auspicious occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, let us resolve to rededicate ourselves to the welfare and progress of the nation, to follow the mantra of truth and non-violence, and to build a clean, capable, strong and prosperous India, and to make Gandhiji’s dreams come true.’
Regarding the statement that the Congress party had taken this country far ahead, we did not find any speech of his where he spoke about the Congress Party. In this year’s President’s address to the nation during republic day, he spoke about the struggle of our freedom fighters.
In his Republic day speech of 2020, he said,’ Government and opposition both have important roles to play. While giving expression to their political ideas, both must move forward in tandem to ensure that development of the country and welfare of its people are promoted consistently.’ But he never made any statement on the Congress party as the post claims.
To summarise, Ram Nath Kovind has not made these statements praising the Congress Party.
