Fact-Check: Edited video of PM Modi going viral with false claim

New Delhi (Vishvas News): A video featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been going viral on social media which shows him watching an address by Dhirendra Krishna Shastri on television. Some social media users are sharing the video with claims that PM Modi is viewing the story of Dhirendra Shastri’s address. Vishvas News conducted an investigation and found that the viral video of PM Modi is edited. The original video actually shows PM Modi watching the live telecast of the Chandrayaan-2 launch on TV in July 2019. The footage of Dhirendra Krishna Shastri has been added to the video through editing software.

Claim:

On June 4, 2023, a Facebook user named ‘Hindu Ankit Bhatnagar State President, All India Hindu Mahasabha’ shared the viral video (archive link) and captioned it as follows: “Prime Minister Modi ji watched the video of Dhirendra Shastri’s address on parents during his Ramkatha.”

Investigation:

During our investigation, we conducted a Google search using relevant keywords to uncover the truth behind the video. In the process, we discovered the original video posted on Business Today’s official Facebook account on July 22, 2019. The original footage clearly shows PM Modi watching the Chandrayaan-2 launch. The accompanying caption of the tweet read, “Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi watched the live telecast of ISRO’s #Chandrayaan2 launch at 2:43 pm today.”

“Doordarshan National” and ANI also shared the original video on July 22, 2019, on their official Twitter accounts, providing the same information.

During our investigation, we found the original video uploaded on ABP News’ official YouTube channel on July 22, 2019. The video description states, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi watched the live telecast of the Chandrayaan-2 launch. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched India’s second lunar mission on July 22. Chandrayaan-2 was earlier postponed a week ago due to a technical glitch. The launch took place at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, and Chandrayaan-2 will explore the southern side of the moon.”

Another manipulated video of PM Modi is circulating with the same claim. When we searched for the original video using relevant keywords, we found the authentic video uploaded on PM Modi’s official YouTube channel on June 3, 2023. According to the available information, PM Modi is seen conducting a meeting regarding the Odisha train accident.

We reached out to Dainik Jagran’s National Bureau reporter Neelu Ranjan for his insights on the video. He confirmed that the claim is false and the video has been edited. Furthermore, we contacted BJP spokesperson Vijay Sonkar Shastri for additional details. He dismissed the video as edited and the claim as fake.

Upon concluding our investigation, we examined the profile of the user who shared the video with the false claim. We discovered that the user is associated with an ideological group and has a following of 26,000 people. The user’s profile indicates that he is from Madhya Pradesh.