Did PM Modi say divide and rule is BJP's tradition?

Hyderabad: A 20-second video clip of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is circulating on social media. In it, he can be heard saying that divide and rule is the BJP's tradition and unity and development is Congress' tradition.

A Twitter user shared the video and wrote, "Finally Modi ji has accepted that Congress party works for unity and development, whereas BJP believes in divide and rule." (Translated)

Click here to see the post.

Several other Facebook users have shared the video, making the same claim. (Click here and here to view the posts.)

Fact Check

NewsMeter noticed two abrupt pauses in the viral clip which alerted us that the clip could be edited. We then performed a reverse image search of the video's keyframe and found a tweet by ANI from 3 April 2014 in which the PM can be seen wearing the same clothes as in the viral video. The tweet quoted the then prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi as saying, "For Congress secularism is divide and rule, for us it is unite and work for the nation."

Taking this as a cue, we searched for the video on YouTube and found a 35-minute video uploaded by BJP's official channel on 3 April 2014. The video is from a rally in Ghaziabad, UP, in the runup to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

In this video, at around the 14.57 timestamp, Mr. Modi can be heard saying, "Brothers and sisters, divide and rule is Congress' tradition and unite and development is our (BJP) tradition."

We also confirmed the same from the live-streamed video of the rally from the same date on the official YouTube channel of PM Modi.

It is evident from the findings that the viral clip has been edited. Hence, the claim is false.