Fact Check: No, Jharkhand BJP President Babulal Marandi Hasn’t Criticised Modi. Viral Video Is Old
Social media users have shared a video of Jharkhand BJP president Babulal Marandi, claiming that he criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently. The claim was made amid elections in the state.
The Verdict: Misleading
The viral video was shot in 2018, when Babulal Marandi was in the opposition party, before joining the BJP. The clip has been shared without context.
What is the claim?
Social media users have shared a video of Jharkhand Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Babulal Marandi, claiming that he criticised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently, even as the state holds polls to elect members to the Legislative Assembly. The last phase of the elections is scheduled for November 20, and the results will be declared on November 23.
The short viral clip shows Marandi saying, “The promise Modi made in 2014 remained unfulfilled. Now they are creating divisions between Hindus and Muslims in the name of temple-mosque, religion, and love jihad. People didn’t elect the government for such work. If the Prime Minister of the country plays such cruel jokes on the poor, who would vote for such a person? Anyone who votes for him is going to lose. Such jokes must not be tolerated. The government wants society to fight among themselves. Do you want this country to become like Pakistan? I say, if Modi remains the Prime Minister, in the next five years, India will become like Pakistan. There will be riots every other day.”
Several users including psephologist Yogendra Yadav and Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan shared the video on social media. Bhushan wrote on X, “BJP’s Jharkhand president is speaking the truth. He is saying that if Modiji remains the Prime Minister for five more years, India will become Pakistan! There will be riots every day.” Surendra Rajput, a Congress member, wrote in Hindi that translates to, "A shocking revelation by the BJP President! Babu Lal Marandi is saying who will vote for Modi ji?"
Other social media users also shared the video as 'Breaking News,' insinuating that Marandi's remarks are recent. Archived versions of such posts can be found here, here, here, and here.
However, the claim is misleading. The video dates back to 2018 when Marandi was in the opposition party in the Jharkhand Assembly as a Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) (JVM-P) member. He joined the BJP later in 2020.
How did we find the truth?
We found that the viral clip was originally published on December 14, 2018, on a Facebook page (archived here) belonging to Ashok Gope, a Ranchi-based journalist. The video is titled "Those who vote for BJP are the worst people of the society... Babulal Marandi." The original video is 1:14 minutes long, and the viral segment was taken from the 0:15 minute to 1:14 minute mark.
We contacted Gope for further clarification on the video. He told Logically Facts, “I captured the video in Ranchi in 2018 when Babulal Marandi was with the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha. It was one of the many interviews he gave regularly. He was not in the BJP at that time and joined the party later.”
We also found a similar video (archived here) in which Marandi is seen wearing the same attire and sitting in the same place. In this video, he talks about the controversy surrounding the Rafale deal. A local news channel named Taaza Jharkhand also published this video on December 14, 2018.
Marandi's political journey
Marandi was a BJP leader until 2006 and became the first chief minister of Jharkhand in 2000, following the formation of the state under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. He resigned from the BJP and founded the JVM-P in 2006.
In 2018, BJP leader Raghubar Das was the state's chief minister, while Marandi served in the opposition party. In 2020, Marandi merged his party with the BJP and is contesting the 2024 state Assembly elections as a BJP candidate.
It is evident that the video was captured when Marandi was in the opposition party, where he criticised Modi as the opposition party leader. He was elected as the BJP state president in 2020.
The verdict
A video from 2018 has been shared to claim that the BJP Jharkhand President Babulal Marandi recently criticised PM Modi. However, the clip was captured before he joined the BJP when he was in the opposition party.
This story was originally published by Logically Facts as part of the Shakti Collective. Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by ABP Live staff.
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