A video clip featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi is gaining rapid traction on social media platforms. The video claims to show the Prime Minister Modi referring to Hindutva as a ‘card to play the election game’. This article aims to fact-check this viral claim and shed light on its veracity.
Claim: A video clip shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling Hindutva a ‘card to play the election game’.
Fact: Contrary to the claim, in the original video from which this viral clip was taken, the Prime Minister states, “Hindutva.. ye, chunavi khel khelne ke liye ek tash ka patta nahi hai” (Hindutva… is not a card to play the election game). The word ‘nahi’ has been removed from this speech and is shared with a false narrative. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
To understand the origin of the viral video, we began by noting that PM Modi appears younger in the clip. Consequently, we searched for old interviews of PM Modi on the internet using relevant keywords, where he discusses Hindutva. This led us to an interview posted by Zee News, which they regard as a 24-year-old interview with PM Modi.
The viral clip is extracted from this video. At 10:27 into the Zee News interview, PM Modi can be heard uttering the same lines that appear in the viral excerpt. However, contrary to the viral video’s claim, PM Modi is heard saying: “Hindutva .. ye, chunavi khel khelne keliye ek tash ka patta nahi hai” (Hindutva .. is not a card to play the election game). The word ‘nahi’ has been removed from this speech and is shared with a false narrative.
To sum up, the claim that PM Modi referred to Hindutva as a ‘card to play the election game’ in the viral video is false. From the original video, we found that the Prime Minister stated that Hindutva is not a card to play in the election game.
