A viral video featuring former Congress leader Pramod Krishnam stating “India should be free from caste-based reservations” during a public meeting is being shared on social media (here, here, and here) claiming that Narendra Modi’s dear friend Acharya Pramod Krishnam has announced that reservation will be abolished from India. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Narendra Modi’s dear friend Acharya Pramod Krishnam has announced that reservations will be abolished from India.
Fact: This speech was made by Pramod Krishnam on 26 September 2023 in Haridwar when he was a member of the Congress party. He clarified that the video was a year old and highlighted that numerous Congress leaders were currently sharing and commenting on it. He further clarified that he met Prime Minister Modi on 1 February 2024, and that his previous speech was being linked to the PM and used against him. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
On conducting the reverse image search using the keyframes of the video, we found a full-length video uploaded on the BGT news YouTube channel. This speech was made by Pramod Krishnam on 26 September 2023 in Haridwar when he was a member of the Congress party.
In this speech, he stated “Leaders from certain castes often target us, particularly Brahmins. I propose that in the upcoming Maha Kumbh, we should advocate for a measure to eliminate discrimination based on religion, caste, and gender, as envisioned by Babasaheb Ambedkar in the Indian Constitution. Show your support by raising your hands if you agree. Let’s strive to free India’s democratic system and politics of casteism by proposing at the next Maha Kumbh that the country should move beyond caste-based reservations.”
Subsequent research led us to his recent Interview on ANI where he clarified that the video was a year old and highlighted that numerous Congress leaders were currently sharing and commenting on it. He further clarified that he met Prime Minister Modi on 1 February 2024, and that his previous speech was being linked to the PM and used against him. He stated, “The video is a year old, and only half of the speech is shown. Many Congress officials are now tweeting and making statements about it. I’ve heard that Rahul Gandhi has also commented on it. The truth is, that I met PM Modi on February 1, 2024, and this excerpt is from my statement in Haridwar. They are now trying to connect it to PM Modi and misrepresenting it. This speech of mine is from September 24, 2023, when I was with the Congress party, but now I am with PM Modi. I oppose casteism and untouchability. The propaganda and conspiracy being spread by the Congress will not benefit them.”
To sum up, an old video of Acharya Pramod’s comments on caste-based reservations is shared as recent.
