Fact Check: Did PM Modi say Hindutva is a ‘playing card’ for BJP to win elections?

Hyderabad: An old video of prime minister Narendra Modi’s interview saying Hindutva is a ‘playing card’ for the BJP to win elections is going viral on social media.

In the video, he is purportedly saying, “Hindutva has never been an election slogan for the BJP. Hindutva is an article of faith for us... a card we use in the game of elections.”

An X premium user shared the video with the caption, “Hindutva is an article of faith for us, This is a key card to win the election, Honorable Modi ji expressing his feelings!!! (sic)”

Several X and Facebook users have shared the video. Click here, here and here to view the posts.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the video has been doctored, where the sound bite ‘not’ has been removed. In the original video, he could be heard saying “Hindutva is not a mere playing card for the BJP to play the games of elections.”

Upon a reverse image search of the video’s keyframe, we found a full version of the interview from March 22, 1998, published by Zee News on September 17, 2022. At around the 10:15-minute timestamp, the interviewer asks Modi about the BJP’s Hindutva strategy and how it seems to be failing. Promptly replying, Modi says, “Hindutva has never been an election slogan for the BJP. Hindutva is an article of faith for us, not a card to play the game of elections.”

Hence, it is clear that the audio of ‘not’ has been digitally removed from the viral video.

On the 72nd birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we found the interview was also published on the website of the Zee News titled ‘Deshhit: Watch 24 years old interview of PM Modi.’ We checked this video too and found PM Modi answering the interviewer that Hindutva is an article of faith for them and not a playing card to win elections.

Since PM Modi did not say that Hindutva is a ‘playing card’ for the BJP to win elections, we conclude that the viral video of his old interview is doctored.