Fact Check: Viral video of Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah wishing to be ‘reborn as Muslim’ is misleading on purpose
During the speech, the Karnataka CM was quoting a statement made by Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former Karnataka CM Deve Gowda.
By Sunanda Naik Published on 12 March 2024 4:41 PM GMT
Fact: During the speech, the Karnataka CM was quoting a statement made by Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former Karnataka CM Deve Gowda.
Hyderabad: A video of Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah giving a speech at a public meeting is being widely circulated on social media with the claim that he allegedly expressed his wish to be born as a Muslim in his next birth.
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Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading as the video was edited to remove the context in which the statement was made. During the speech, the Karnataka CM was quoting a statement made by Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former Karnataka CM Deve Gowda.
On analysing the viral clip, we found the logo of the news channel TV9 Kannada. Subsequently, we found the extended version of the speech on the YouTube channel of TV9 Kannada titled ‘Siddaramaiah: CM Siddaramaiah thunders against Deve Gowda family’ dated March 10, 2024.
In the extended version, recalling what Deve Gowda had once said, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah could be heard saying, “Deve Gowda once said that ‘I will never join BJP for any reason. If there is a next life, I wish to be born as a Muslim.’ Why?” He was saying this in the light of Deve Gowda giving his party’s support to the BJP who was vocal against BJP in the past.
The same video was covered by multiple Kannada media channels as well. Click here to view the video.
Over a keyword search, we found the speech by Siddaramaiah taking a dig at JDS supremo Deve Gowda covered by mainstream media outlets such as ANI, The New Indian Express and The Hindu.
According to the report by the Hindustan Times on March 11, speaking at a felicitation function of Congress MLC Puttanna, who won his fifth election from Bengaluru Teachers’ Constituency, Siddaramaiah said, “Deve Gowda is praising Narendra Modi now. He also says that he and Narendra Modi have an inseparable relationship. I wonder why he has become like this. The same Deve Gowda had said that if Narendra Modi becomes the Prime Minister again, he will leave the country. But now, he is praising. Thus, they are following a dual policy. I never expected that a former Prime Minister of a country would say this".
As per the report, Siddaramaiah also recollected Deve Gowda's earlier assertion of wishing to be reborn as a Muslim in his next life and his consistent opposition to the BJP.
Hence, it is evident that the video has been edited as to show that Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah expressed his wish to be reborn as a Muslim.
