Fact Check: PM Modi’s rally in Banswara draws in sea of people? Here are the facts
A video of a massive gathering in an open ground has been circulating on social media, claiming it shows people gathered in Banswara to listen to PM Modi on September 25.
By - Md Mahfooz Alam
Claim:The video shows a massive crowd gathered to hear PM Modi during his September 25th address in Banswara, Rajasthan.
Fact:The claim is false. The video is from a bullock cart race held in Pedgaon, Satara district, Maharashtra, in June.
Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a public rally in Banswara, Rajasthan, on September 25 while inaugurating development projects worth over Rs 1.22 lakh crore, including the Mahi-Banswara Nuclear Power Project.
In this contest, a video of a sea of people gathered in an open area has been circulating on social media, claiming it shows the crowd gathered in Banswara to listen to PM Modi.
An X user shared the video with the caption, “The tribal-dominated land of Banswara today became a witness to a historic moment when a sea of people gathered to listen to the esteemed Prime Minister @narendramodi ji. This extraordinary popularity and universal acceptance are the same aura that only a few leaders in India’s history have attained.” (Translated from Hindi) (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false, as the video is from Maharashtra and predates PM Modi’s rally in Banswara, Rajasthan.
A reverse image search of the video’s keyframe traced the footage to the same video uploaded to YouTube on June 23, with a caption indicating it depicts bullock cart racing events in Pedgaon village, located in Maharashtra’s Satara district.
An Instagram account posted the video on June 22, mentioning the condition of the Hindkesari Pedgaon ground—the venue where bullock cart races are held. The hashtags also refer to the bullock cart racing tradition of Maharashtra
Based on these social media posts, we conducted a keyword search and discovered drone footage of Maharashtra’s largest Hindkesari bullock cart race, which was published by ABP Majha on June 26. We also found coverage of the event by Saam TV, a Marathi media outlet, on June 25.
We also located the Hindkesari Pedgaon Maidan using Google Street View and found the same mountainous backdrop visible in the viral video.
Therefore, we conclude that the claim stating this video shows crowds gathered to listen to PM Modi during his September 25th address in Banswara, Rajasthan, is false.
