No, PM Modi was not waving at an empty crowd in this video - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 22, 2022
A video is being shared widely on social media with a claim that it shows PM Modi waving at an empty crowd. Some social media users are sharing the video sarcastically by saying that they have never seen so much crowd in their life. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of PM Modi waving at an empty crowd.
Fact: In a better-quality version of the same video, the crowd can be seen in the background. Also, in the shared video, the audio of the crowd has been replaced to portray as if there is no crowd. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When the screenshots of the video were run through Google Reverse Image Search, a similar video was found to be uploaded by the ‘ANI News’ on their YouTube channel. The channel has uploaded a better-quality video in which the crowd can be seen in the background. Also, the title of the ‘ANI News’ video is – “People throng terraces near helipad to welcome PM Modi in Unnao”. The same video can be also seen on the official Twitter account of ‘BJP Uttar Pradesh’.
Also, in the published video, the audio of the crowd has been replaced to portray it as if there is no crowd. The pictures of the same place published by several news agencies show that there is a significant crowd in the video. Some of those pictures can be seen here and here.
To sum it up, PM Modi was not waving at an empty crowd in this video.