Satirical Piece from 2019 Misinterpreted as Genuine News on Modi's Alleged ₹15 Lakh Pledge - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 20, 2023
A newspaper clipping, bearing the headline “₹15 Lakhs will be deposited into everyone’s account,” is being widely shared on social media with the claim that this is an old newspaper article from 2013-14, which reported on Narendra Modi’s alleged election promise to retrieve Indian black money from abroad and deposit ₹15 lakh into the bank account of every Indian once BJP comes into power. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: An old news paper clip from 2013-14 that reported about the Narendra Modi’s alleged election promise to deposit ₹15 lakh into the bank account of every Indian once BJP comes into power.
Fact: This is a satirical article published by Navbharat Times on 20 March 2019 on the occasion of Holi. It does not report on Narendra Modi’s alleged election promise during 2014 election campaign. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
A reverse image search of the viral video led us to clearer versions (here and here) of the same paper clip, posted in 2019. Upon examining the newspaper’s header, we discovered that the article was published in the Navbharat Times Mumbai Edition on 20 March 2019, coinciding with Holi. The article concludes with a disclaimer stating, “Don’t mind, it’s Holi,” suggesting that the piece is satirical.
The article fictitiously talks about Modi depositing ₹15 lakhs into every account, with opposition leaders protesting with the ECI. In this fictitious scenario, the then Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, supports the initiative and says the money transfer begins even before the 2019 General elections’ code of conduct is implemented.
During the same Holi period in 2019, Nav Bharat Times published another satirical article, claiming that money would be deducted if people didn’t vote. FACTLY debunked this misinformation when social media users shared the satirical article as real news, omitting the disclaimer.
Clarification published by Navbharat Times regarding the misleading item published by them as a Holi prank pic.twitter.com/E6ezFvx7hA
Nav Bharat Times also published a similar satirical article in 2016 (here and here) about Modi depositing ₹15 lakhs into bank accounts. Additionally, in an interview, the Deputy News Editor at Nav Bharat Times stated that they have a tradition of publishing satirical news in their paper every Holi. He said that it includes a disclaimer under each article and clarified that they are not responsible if users share the article as real news without the disclaimer.
Regarding Narendra Modi’s Rs 15 Lakh remark on Black Money:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comment during an election rally leading up to the 2014 general election has been a hot topic in discussions about black money. Modi stated that if all the black money stashed abroad were repatriated, every poor person would receive between 15 to 20 lakh rupees. Although this comment was intended to illustrate the magnitude of black money hidden abroad, the opposition has repeatedly questioned the logic behind such an estimate. This led BJP President Amit Shah to clarify that Modi’s remark was a ‘Political Jumla’ and should not be taken at face value. Click here to read more about this issue.
To sum it up, a satirical piece from 2019 is being mistakenly circulated as a legitimate news article, reporting Modi’s purported election pledge of depositing ₹15 lakh into each bank account.