Fact Check by Fact Crescendo
An old video of PM modi addressing a crowd is going viral on social media. In the video, PM Modi can be heard saying, “When I used to do small thefts, if my mother would have stopped me those days, then i would not have been such a big robber.”
Users are claiming that PM Modi had confessed before the people while addressing them that he is robbing the nation. However, Fact Crescendo found the claim to be misleading. This is a clipped video and was shared without proper context.
The same video was also viral in 2022 which you can see below.
जब मैं छोटी चोरी करता था..उस दिन अगर मेरी मां ने रोका होता… तो आज मै इतना बड़ा लुटेरा नहीं बनता.. pic.twitter.com/U0cgc63u97
— Kavish Aziz (@azizkavish) September 6, 2022
Fact Check-
A relevant keyword search led us to a video uploaded on Narendra Modi’s official YouTube channel. The description of the video states, “Addressing a massive rally ahead of fourth phase of election in West Bengal’s Siliguri, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said, “The entire North Bengal has announced that the TMC government is going and the BJP government is coming. Today, the entire nation is proud to see the willpower of the people of Bengal. This willpower is of the ‘Ashol Poriborton’. This willpower is the power of ‘Sonar Bangla’.”
A video of the same event was uploaded on BJP West Bengal’s YouTube channel on 10 April 2021. You can see the viral clip from 59.25 minute onwards.
In the original longer version of the speech, PM Modi can be heard saying, “A few days ago, here in Siliguri, Didi said that her Tolabaj only takes 100,200 or 500 rupees, what is the big deal in this, Didi is very comfortably saying that Tolabaz takes 100, 200 or 500 rupees; so why is Modi shouting so much? Brothers and sisters, I had heard a story when I was young, in that story, there was a very big robber, and he was sentenced to death. Before hanging him, he was asked for his last wish and he replied that he wanted to meet his mother. Thus, the government arranged for a meeting with his mother. When he met his mother, he hugged her and bit her nose. When people asked him why he bit his mother’s nose, he replied “when I used to do petty theft, if my mother had stopped me at that time then today I would not have become such a big robber.”
Below you can see the comparison between the viral and original video.
Conclusion:
Fact Crescendo found the claim to be misleading. The viral video has been clipped from the original video and shared to claim that PM Modi is confessing that he is a thief. The clipped version of the video was taken from PM Modi’s speech in Siliguri, West Bengal in 2021.
(This story was originally published by Fact Crescendo and republished by Khabar Lahariya as part of the Shakti Collective.)
‘यदि आप हमको सपोर्ट करना चाहते है तो हमारी ग्रामीण नारीवादी स्वतंत्र पत्रकारिता का समर्थन करें और हमारे प्रोडक्ट KL हटके का सब्सक्रिप्शन लें’
