Prior to the second phase of legislation elections in the eastern Indian state of Jharkand On November 20, an old video surfaced of Babulal Marandi – the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state – criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi in social media posts misleadingly linking him to the polls. The clip was recorded in 2018 when Marandi was not yet a member of the BJP.
“BJP leader in Jharkhand is telling the truth. He said that if Modi remained Prime Minister for another five years, India would become Pakistan! There would be riots every day,” read part of the Hindi-language caption shared on Facebook on November 17. , 2024.
The post shared a 59-second clip, in which Marandi is shown saying: “The promise Modi made in 2014 remained unfulfilled. Now they are creating division between Hindus and Muslims in the name of temple, mosque, religion and love jihad. People did not elect the government for such work.”
The term “I love jihad” was coined by far-right Hindu groups and refers to an alleged campaign by Muslim men to seduce and convert Hindu women to Islam (archived link).
“The government wants society to fight among itself. Do you want this country to become like Pakistan? I say if Modi remains prime minister, India will become like Pakistan in the next five years. There will be riots every other day.” he continues.
The text on the video reads: “Babulal speaks the truth” and identifies him as the BJP leader in Jharkhand and a former chief minister.
Screenshot of the misleading message, taken on November 17, 2024
The misleading video was shared on Facebookincluding by prominent public attorney Prashant Bhushan (archived link).
The post surfaced days before Jharkhand held the second phase of Legislative Assembly elections on November 20, which the BJP is pushing for wrest regain control of the state from a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led coalition government (archived link).
Election results announced on November 23 showed the JMM-led alliance winning the majority of seats (archived link).
Marandi became the first chief minister of Jharkhand in 2000 as a BJP member. He left the party in 2006 to form the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) party before rejoining the BJP in 2020 and becoming the party’s leader in the state (archived link).
Some users seem to believe that the video was recorded recently.
“Babulal Marandi is a former chief minister and currently state president of the BJP. What he says is true,” said one user.
“You have contributed significantly to the loss of INDIA alliance in Jharkhand,” wrote another, referring to the BJP-led coalition.
But the clip was shared out of context and was filmed in December 2018, when Marandi was not a member of the BJP.
video from 2018
A reverse image search on Google found a longer version of the video published on Facebook by local media outlet Taaza Jharkhand on December 14, 2018 (archived link).
The post’s caption stated that Marandi was responding to the Indian Supreme Court’s refusal at the time to launch an investigation into allegations that Modi used a multi-billion dollar deal to buy Rafale fighter jets from France to build one of his to favor main lenders (archived link).
“Jharkhand Vikas Morcha President and former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi said on the Rafale deal issue that no comment can be made on the Supreme Court orders,” the caption read. “At the same time, he has not failed to scrutinize the current central government on this issue.”
Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip in the misleading message (left) and the video published by local media outlet Taaza Jharkhand in 2018 (right):
Screenshot comparison of the excerpt from the misleading message (left) and the video published by local media outlet Taaza Jharkhand in 2018
AFP has previously debunked misinformation related to the Jharkhand elections here.
