Fact Check: Mamata Banerjee asks people to stay poor? No, speech calls for integrity from cadre
A video of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee saying ‘I want you to stay poor’ at a public meeting is going viral on social media.
By K Sherly Sharon
Claim:Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee says that she wants the people to remain poor.
Fact:The claim is misleading. The viral statements from Mamata Banerjee were directed at the party leaders and workers.
Hyderabad: A video showing the chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, is going viral on social media. The video is circulating with the claim that the Bengal CM said that she wants people to remain poor.
In the viral video, we can hear Mamata Banerjee speaking in Bengali at a public meeting saying, “I want you to stay poor, meaning, live by eating whatever you have at home.”
The video was shared on Facebook with the caption, “I want you to stay poor. Whatever food you have at your home, eat and survive: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee mocks the poor.” (Archive)
The video was also shared on X with a similar claim: “‘I want you to stay poor. Whatever food you have at your home, eat and survive’: @MamataBanerjee… More Radical than an Islamist, more poverty-driven than a Communist. This is the West Bengal CM and her regime for you. West Bengal deserves better.” (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading. The viral statements from Mamata Banerjee were directed at the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) party leaders and workers. These statements were made on July 21, 2024.
Using a reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video, we found a YouTube video which was live streamed on July 21, 2024, on the AITC channel. The video was uploaded with the title ‘Paying tribute to the Martyrs of 21st July Shahid Dibas at Dharmatala’.
The YouTube video shows Mamata Banerjee addressing the crowd at a public meeting organised on the same day in remembrance of martyrs of the 21st July at Dharmatala.
The viral clip can be found at the 2:58:13-hour mark in the YouTube video. However, the context of the video suggests that the statements were directed at the All India Trinamool Congress leaders and party workers.
Moments before saying the viral statements, at 2:57:53-hour mark, the Bengal CM is heard saying, “I will tell all municipalities, MLAs and MPs, from now on, there should be no complaints against anyone from the party. If there are any complaints, we will take appropriate action. Keep that in mind.”
She further added, “I want you to stay poor, meaning, live by eating whatever you already have at home. There’s no need to be greedy. We don’t want to be greedy. We want to be friends of the people.”
A Times of India report was published on July 22, 2014, with the title, ‘Introspect, don’t run after money: Mamata Banerjee’s message from 21/7 dais’.
The report also clarified that the statements by Mamata Banerjee were directed at the party workers. “Introspection, service to society, staying away from money, greed and from all types of illegal activities formed the cornerstone of chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s address to her party colleagues on Sunday, at the party’s first Martyrs’ Day rally after its spectacular show in the Lok Sabha elections in Bengal.”
Quoting the West Bengal CM, the report stated, “‘Stay poor, eat bhaat-ruti and be happy with whatever you have at your home,’ Banerjee told the two lakh-strong crowd…”
The viral video does not show West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee stating that she wants people to remain poor. The statement was directed at the AITC party leaders and workers, encouraging them to work without greed.
NewsMeter concludes that the viral claim is misleading.
