Old Clip of Woman Crying After Attending PM's Rally Viral as Recent Incident

The clip has been on the internet since 2017, and social media users noted that it was from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

A video of a woman, who claims that she was promised Rs 400 and a dhoti (saree) for attending and sloganeering at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally is going viral on social media platforms.

In the video, the woman claims that she received on Rs 150 after being promised a higher sum and clothes.

However, we found that the video is an old one and could be traced back to 2017. While we have not been able to independently verify the woman's claims, we saw that the clip has been on the internet for a few years and was shared in 2019 as a recent incident as well.

CLAIM

In the video, the crying woman alleges that she was promised Rs 400 and a 'dhoti' for attending and sloganeering at a 'Modi' road show but only received Rs 150.

This clip, which shows other women too, was shared by social media users as a recent one, linking the incident to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

Archived versions of more such claims on social media can be found here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

On running a reverse image searches on a few screenshots of the viral video on Yandex, we came across a YouTube video uploaded on 9 March 2017.

The video's Hindi description places the incident in Varanasi, and notes that the women in the video were told that they would receive Rs 400 and a saree for attending PM Modi's road show, but only received Rs 150.

Taking a clue from this, we used Hindi keywords such as 'महिला रो ४०० रुपये मोदी रैली' (Women cry Rs 400 Modi rally) and came across a report by Punjab Kesari, which carried the same video as a tweet by former Aam Aadmi Party member Dr Kumar Vishwas.

We also found that the clip had been shared by the Indian American Muslim Council's verified Facebook page in 2017 and by Preeti Chobey, who formerly worked for the Samajwadi Party in 2019. Chobey criticised out the BJP for "renting" the crowds at their rallies.

While The Quint has not been able to identify the woman and the story behind the video, it is evident that the video is an old one from 2017, and social media users have noted that the video was from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

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