Fact Check: Viral video of PM Modi saying government will fight against poor is clipped

Hyderabad: A purported clip of prime minister Narendra Modi from his Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address speech in the Rajya Sabha is making the rounds on social media. The PM is heard saying in the clip that the ‘upcoming five years will be a decisive battle against the poor’.

Congress leader Pawan Khera shared the video and wrote, “Prime Minister, we will not let you fight a decisive battle against the poor.”

Another Congress leader, Supriya Shrinate, shared the video and wrote, “‘The coming 5 years are of a decisive battle against poverty: Narendra Modi. No, your intention will not be fulfilled. India will stop you like a rock from fighting against the poor.” (Archive)

“The Iron Lady of the country Indira Gandhi gave the slogan ‘Garibi Hatao’, The country’s Jumla Man Narendra Modi has given the slogan of ‘Remove the poor’. In the coming 5 years, our government will fight a decisive battle against the poor. - Narendra Modi.” captioned the video Congress leader, Ritu Choudhary, in an X post. (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found the claim is misleading. In the extended version, PM Modi corrects himself, emphasising that the upcoming five years would be a fight against poverty.

We noticed the date July 3 and the time stamp 12:24 in the viral clip. With this cue, we searched for the extended version of the video on PM Modi’s YouTube channel. We found the video published on July 3, titled ‘PM Modi’s speech during reply to Motion of Thanks in Rajya Sabha.’

The viral clip appeared around the 18:51 mark in the video. Addressing the Raj Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, PM Modi indeed said, “The upcoming five years will be a decisive battle against the poor”. However, he corrected himself and said, “The upcoming five years will be the fight of the poor against poverty and I believe when the poor collectively stand up with strength the fight against poverty becomes successful. Hence, in the coming five years, the fight against poverty will be decisive years and I can say with confidence from the experience of the last ten years that the country will win battle against the poverty.”

He also elaborated on the implications of India becoming the world’s third-largest economy, highlighting its profound impact on every facet of people’s lives domestically and its unprecedented influence on the global stage.

We also found the transcript of the speech published on the website PMIndia.gov on July 3 titled ‘PM’s reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in Rajya Sabha.’ In the ninth paragraph, referring to PM Modi it reads, “He highlighted that the next 5 years are crucial for the fight against poverty and expressed the belief in the collective capabilities of the poor to take a stand against poverty and overcome it based on the experiences of the last 10 years.”

Hence, we conclude that the viral video has been clipped to mislead people. The claim that he said that he or his government will fight a decisive battle against poverty is misleading.