Fact Check: BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari warns party of ‘extinction’? No, find the facts here

Hyderabad: A video of West Bengal’s Bharatiya Janata Party leader, Suvendu Adhikari, speaking at a public meeting is going viral on social media.

The video is being circulated with the claim that it shows the West Bengal opposition leader making controversial remarks, saying the BJP will face extinction if it doesn’t change course.

In the video, we can hear Suvendu Adhikari saying, “BJP won’t survive here, leave your attitude. BJP people, come to the right way. What is the BJP doing? BJP is driving everyone away, calling everyone Bangladeshi.”

The viral video was shared on X by State General Secretary of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) IT and Social Media Wing, Nilanjan Das.

The caption reads, “WB Leader of Opposition warns that @BJP4Bengal will face extinction if it doesn’t change course – ‘BJP is pushing everyone back by branding them Bangladeshi.’ Very uncharacteristic of Suvendu Adhikari. Why this sudden change of heart?” (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s comments were taken out of context. He made the remarks, referring to the allegations made against the BJP.

Using reverse image search, we found an X video live-streamed by the BJP on August 17. The title states, “A huge rally was held in Kolkata’s Taratala to protest against linguistic terrorism and violent political subculture”. (Translated from Bengali)

In the video, we can see that the viral clip starts at the 12:58-minute mark. Suvendu Adhikari’s official Facebook page has also shared a live stream of the speech. This speech was delivered at a public meeting organised on August 17 at Taratala in Kolkata.

Another video of the speech was live-streamed on YouTube by Asianet News Bangla. In this YouTube live stream, the remarks from the viral video can be heard from the 10:20-minute mark to the 10:47-minute mark.

In this speech, the BJP leader criticised chief minister Mamata Banerjee and other Trinamool Congress leaders and their families for corruption. He addressed allegations made against the BJP and defended the party's stance on ‘illegal infiltrators’.

At the 10:10-minute mark in the speech, Suvendu Adhikari is heard saying, “What did they say here? They said, ‘I will wipe out every trace of the BJP. BJP will not remain here. Change your attitude. BJP people, come to the right path. What is the BJP doing? BJP is chasing everyone away. Calling everyone Bangladeshi’.”(Translated from Hindi)

The BJP leader refuted these allegations in the next sentence, saying, “Oh brother no, listen carefully. On 15th August, Independence Day, from the Red Fort, our country’s Prime Minister has clearly told us, there are no infiltrators in any country in the world. There will be no intruder in our country. Why are you so scared?” (Translated from Hindi)

He further defended the BJP leader’s stance saying, “Those who are Indian may be Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian or Buddhist. They are not included in this. When the Summary Intensive Revision of the voter list happens, Indians have nothing at all to worry about.”

Adhikari added, “Not only Indians, even those who came from Bangladesh to West Bengal as Hindus to save their religion, they are not called infiltrators. They are our friends, our relatives, our refugees.”

The West Bengal BJP leadership, including Suvendu Adhikari, has been demanding Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the State for the past few months. During the speech, Adhikari claimed that four categories of voters, including dead voters and voters who are residents of Bangladesh, will be removed from the voter list.

The viral video does not show Suvendu Adhikari warning that the BJP will face extinction if it doesn’t change course. It shows the BJP leader addressing the allegations made against the party. Therefore, it is clear that the viral video clipping is cropped and taken out of context.

NewsMeter concludes that the viral claim is false.