A video accompanying a post is being widely shared on social media claiming that Prime Minister Modi had said that when he used to steal smaller things in his childhood if his mother had stopped him then, he would not have become such a big robber. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of PM Modi admitting to stealing in his childhood.
Fact: This video has been conveniently clipped from a longer speech by PM Modi in Siliguri, West Bengal on 10 April 2021 where he was narrating a story about a robber in the context of criticising TMC-led West Bengal government. Modi was referring to a robber and about his mother not stopping him from stealing during his childhood. This has been shared without context to give the impression that Modi is talking about himself. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When reverse image search was done on the screenshots of the video, a video uploaded by the official YouTube channel of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was found. The YouTube video was streamed live on 10 April 2021 from a public meeting in Siliguri at West Bengal. At the 39.40 timestamp of the YouTube video, Modi says, “Brothers and sisters when we were children, we all heard about the story about a big robber who was sentenced to death. When asked about his last wish, he said that he wants to meet his mother. Then the government arranged for him to meet her, but when he met his mother, he bit his mother’s nose. When people asked him why he did like this, he replied saying that when he was a child, he used to steal small things and at that time if his mother had stopped, he would not have become such a robber.”
The part from the 40.39 timestamp, where Modi is referring to the robber talking about his mother not stopping him from stealing during his childhood has been cropped and shared without context to give the impression that Modi is talking about himself. This 10 second part from 40.39 had been conveniently taken and shared in the post.
The story was narrated by Modi when he was criticising West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for “tolabaji” (extortion) and alleged that TMC workers take cut money as commission to help people avail benefits of state-run welfare schemes. News articles related to this speech can be seen here and here. Even earlier in 2019, PM Modi said that the TMC government has imposed ‘TTT’- Trinamool Tolabaji Tax in West Bengal, according to this article.
To sum it up, this video does not show PM Modi admitting to stealing in his childhood.
