Fact Check: Old video passed off as PM Modi asking vote for opposition alliance ‘INDIA’
The video is from 2013 when Modi was chief minister of Gujarat. The reference to India in the video is for the country, not the opposition alliance, which was formed in July 2023.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 15 Sep 2023 12:56 PM GMT
In July this year, 26 Opposition parties, which include two national parties and 24 regional parties, decided to come together and form an alliance to fight the juggernaut of the Bhartiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2024 general elections. The bloc named itself the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
Now, a video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is viral on social media in which he can be heard asking vote for ‘INDIA’.
An X user shared the video with the caption, “Vote for India. Vote for India. Modi ji is saying to vote for India, lest the party gets angry with Modi ji.”
A Facebook user shared the video with the caption, “Thank u Modi ji sure we vote for India in 2024.... we love you we need change.....” (Click here to see the post.)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the video is from 2013 when Modi was chief minister of Gujarat. The reference to India in the video is for the country, not the opposition alliance, which was formed in July 2023.
NewsMeter noticed the logo of AAJ Tak, texts reading “Mahagarjan rally”, and a ticker reading “Modi: ask vote for the country for 2014”.
Taking these cues, we ran a keyword search and came across a longer version of the video uploaded on the official YouTube channel of PM Modi on December 12, 2013, titled “Shri Narendra Modi addressing Maha Garjana Rally in Mumbai.”
The description of the video reads, “Shri Narendra Modi addressing Maha Garjana Rally at Mumbai exhorting people to not to vote for a Dal (party), but vote for Desh (country), VOTE FOR INDIA, reaffirming the commitment of the BJP to serving the poor of the nation and reiterating that bad governance and vote bank politics is the root cause of all problems.”
In the 49-minute time slot of the video, Modi is heard asking people not to vote for Dal (party) but for the country in the 2014 general elections. He also raises the slogan of the “vote for India” and asks people to repeat the same.
Hence, we conclude that the viral has been clipped from Modi’s speech in 2014, which is being shared with misleading context.
