The Bihar election campaign is heating up, and political parties have already begun their campaign and released the list of candidates. Amid this, a video (here, here, here, here and here) of RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has gone viral on social media. The claim accompanying the video suggests that Tejashwi Yadav said he only needs power and does not care about the people. Let’s find out the truth behind this claim.
Claim: The viral video shows RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav saying he needs power after the election and that he does not bother about the people.
Fact: The viral video is clipped. In the full version, Tejashwi Yadav was responding to a media question about Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi, criticising them and the NDA government for being power-hungry and not being concerned about issues like unemployment and inflation. He was not referring to himself or his party. Hence, the claim is MISLEADING.
To verify the claim, we conducted a reverse image search on Google, which led us to the full version of the viral video (here and here). In the original video, Tejashwi Yadav can be seen getting out of his car as media personnel approach him and ask about the ongoing conflict between Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi, mentioning that there is no coordination regarding seat sharing. In response, Tejashwi Yadav says that both leaders are ministers at the Centre and have no interest in addressing issues like unemployment and inflation. He adds that they are only concerned about power and position, not the people of Bihar. This makes it clear that the viral video is a clipped version and is being shared with a misleading narrative.
Further research led us to a news report about the same event, which included stills from the viral clip. These reports also stated that Tejashwi Yadav was referring to Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, and the NDA government, not himself or his party. This confirms that the viral video was clipped and shared out of context.
To sum up, a clipped video is being shared with a false claim that Tejashwi Yadav said he needs power and does not care about the people.
