Fact Check: Misleading Post Links Madhavi Lata’s Old Statement on Muslims to Lok Sabha Election Defeat

New Delhi (Vishvas News). A video of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Madhavi Lata is going viral on social media. In the video, she can be heard saying that Indian Muslims can never be terrorists. This video is being shared with the claim that Madhavi Lata made this statement after losing the Lok Sabha elections.

In its investigation, Vishvas News discovered that the claim about the viral video is misleading. The statement by Madhavi Latha in the viral video was not made after the elections. The BJP leader had made the remark while campaigning for the polls in April.

What is Going Viral?

Facebook user Satish Chandra Dimri shared the viral video on June 13, 2024, with the caption, “This drama queen also came to her senses as soon as she lost the election.”

See the archive link of the post here.

Investigation

To verify the authenticity of the viral claim, we conducted a Google search with the help of relevant keywords. We found the full video that was uploaded on April 22, 2024. From 1.19 minutes into the video, Madhavi Lata was seen engaged in a door-to-door campaign. During this, a YouTuber approaches her and starts questioning her. The YouTuber specifically asks whether Muslims should fear the BJP and asks, “Do you think Muslims are terrorists?” In response, Madhavi Lata says that it is not possible and Indian Muslims can never be terrorists. However, we can’t be sure of those who are being provoked in the name of religion.

During the investigation, we came across another report related to the viral video uploaded on April 22, 2024 on the official YouTube channel of The Print. According to the report, an alleged video of Madhavi Lata went viral during the election campaign, showing her allegedly shooting imaginary arrows at the mosque during the Ram Navami procession. After this video went viral, she clarified that this video was edited and misleading and  this edited video is now being shared to defame her. During the interview, YouTuber and Muslim student Mir Mukkaram Sultan questioned Madhavi Lata regarding this viral video. Then Mir Mukkaram Sultan was interviewed by The Print.

For more information, we reached out to BJP Telangana spokesperson Keerthi Kanth and  he confirmed that the viral claim is misleading and the video is old. It is being shared in a misleading manner to tarnish Madhavi Lata’s image.

Finally, we scanned the account of the user who shared the misleading video. We discovered that the user shares posts influenced by a specific ideology andis followed by approximately two thousand people.