As the country witnessed Bharat Bandh on Tuesday, 8 December, a viral video claims to show how that Union Minster and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajnath Singh has extended his support to the farmers, who have been camping in Delhi, to protest against the contentious farmers’ law.
However, we found that the viral video is a clipped version of his address to the farmers protesting at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar in 2013.
CLAIM
In the video, Singh can be heard saying that he didn’t know there was a protest going on and had he known it before, he would have supported the farmers from day one.
The claim along with the video reads: “राजनाथ सिंह की ये वीडियो नरेंद्र मोदी और भाजपा पर भारी पड़ने वाली है!”
(Translated: This video of Rajnath Singh is going to cost Narendra Modi and the BJP.)
Some social media users also shared the video with a claim suggesting that Rajnath Singh is supporting the protesting farmers.
You can view the archived version here.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We searched on YouTube using keywords “rajnath singh dharna kisan” and found that the official handle of the BJP had uploaded a longer version of the viral video in March 2013.
The title of the video mentioned that Rajnath Singh was addressing farmers who had then staged a ‘dharna’ at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
At the 01:04 mark down the YouTube video, one can hear him making the same statements as in the viral video.
We found that the same video was also uploaded on Singh’s official website.
In March 2013, The Hindu had reported that thousands of farmers from different parts of the country had reached Delhi, demanding a farmers’ income commission, among others.
Evidently, an old video from 2013 was revived to falsely claim that Rajnath Singh has come out to support protesting farmers.
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