The Verdict: Misleading
The video distorts Yadav’s 1998 speech, where he criticised allegations against his party, clarifying it was wrongly branded anti-Hindu and criminal.
What’s the claim?
A viral video circulating on social media claims to show Mulayam Singh Yadav, the late founder of the Samajwadi Party (SP), admitting during a parliamentary session that his party is anti-Hindu and composed of criminals. In the 20-second clip, Yadav appears to state:
“We are enemies of Hindus... we stand with Muslims... and are proud to stand with Muslims, isn't it? Ours is a party of criminals. In magazines, on TV, wherever you look... Mulayam Singh is a criminal and criminal of Lal Sena... we are criminals anyway!”
The video was shared widely, with an X user captioning it in Hindi to suggest that Yadav had confessed to his party’s criminal and anti-Hindu nature. Archived versions of the posts can be found here and here.
The video seems to have gained traction because of longstanding accusations from opposition parties that lawlessness prevailed during the SP’s rule in Uttar Pradesh. Yadav, a seven-time Member of Parliament and three-time chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, passed away in 2022. His son Akhilesh Yadav, also a former chief minister, is the current president of the SP.
The video has also been shared on Facebook with the same narrative; the archived versions are available here and here.
However, our investigation found that the video has been edited to distort its original meaning. The viral clip removes critical portions where Yadav directly refuted such allegations against his party.
What did we find?
The viral clip originates from a parliamentary speech Yadav delivered on March 27, 1998, during a debate on a no-confidence motion. The original video, uploaded to the Digital Sansad - Parliament of India YouTube channel (archived here), runs for 52 minutes and 17 seconds and is titled, “Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav on 27.03.1998 - Discussion on Confidence Motion”. The viral segment is a heavily edited excerpt from the 27:55 to 28:28 timestamp.
Upon reviewing the full speech, it becomes clear that Yadav was responding sarcastically to accusations levelled at his party. He mocked claims that the SP was anti-Hindu and pro-Muslim by repeating them in an exaggerated tone. The viral clip omits crucial parts of his speech, including the moments when he denied these allegations.
Earlier in his speech, Yadav criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Uttar Pradesh government’s policies and challenged his critics to examine their own actions. He also accused those claiming the moral high ground of promoting criminals in elections. When BJP leader Virendra Singh objected to this accusation, Yadav responded, “Our party is branded as a party of criminals. In magazines, on television, and everywhere else, it is shown that criminals belong to Mulayam Singh’s party. We are criminals anyway,” followed by a rhetorical challenge for critics to disclose their own conduct. These remarks were sarcastic, meant to highlight what he called the unfounded accusations his party faced.
Amid uproar in the House, he shifted to a discussion about Hindus and Muslims, as seen at the start of the viral clip. The video, however, rearranges two parts of Yadav’s speech and omits context that he later clarified. At the 29:10 mark, he stated, “That is why I said that we are not criminals. You all have been calling us criminals.” This statement directly contradicts the impression created by the viral video.
A copy of the Lok Sabha proceedings, available in the Parliament Digital Library, further corroborates Yadav’s intent. The document confirms that Yadav was responding to allegations made by his political opponents and that his comments were misrepresented in the viral clip.
The verdict
The viral video of Mulayam Singh Yadav has been edited to deliberately remove the context of his remarks and rearrange them to falsely suggest he admitted his party is anti-Hindu and composed of criminals. In reality, Yadav used sarcasm to critique the accusations and explicitly denied the claims in his speech.
This report first appeared on logicallyfacts.com, and has been republished on ABP Live as part of a special arrangement. Apart from the headline, no changes have been made in the report by ABP Live.