Old Video of Yogi Distributing Cash Revived With False 'Paying Voters' Claim

The Quint had previously debunked the video and found that money was given out to farmers who farms caught fire.

A video of people lining up in front of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to collect money is being shared on social media platforms, claiming that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister was distributing money to voters ahead of the ongoing Uttar Pradesh polls.

However, the claim is false. The video is nearly ten years old, when Adityanath was a member of Parliament (MP) from Goraphpur. The Quint had previously debunked the same video which had gone viral ahead of the 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

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CLAIM

Social media users are sharing the video as a recent one, with some asking what the Election Commission (EC) was doing while money was being distributed during polls to win elections.

This tweet shared by user 'Elizabeth' was viewed over 36,000 times at the time of writing this article.

The video had been shared with a similar claim in 2019 as well, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in the country.

Archives of more claims on social media can be seen here, here, here and here.

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WHAT WE FOUND OUT

The Quint had previously verified the context of the video in 2019, when it was being shared ahead of the Lok Sabha polls with a similar claim of Adityanath distributing money for votes.

We had found a video uploaded by one Vinay Kumar Gautam to YouTube on 21 April 2012.

Speaking to The Quint, Gautam had clarified that the video was not of Adityanath distributing money in exchange for votes, but from the time when he was Gorakhpur's Lok Sabha MP.

"In April 2012, several farms in Gorakhpur were burnt. Then the MP from that seat, Yogi had come forward to give monetary support for farmers whose crops were burnt. He distributed about Rs 1,000 - Rs 2,000 per family, depending on the size of the plot."

Vinay Kumar Gautam

Evidently, the video doesn't show Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath bribing people with money in exchange for their votes and has been revived with a false claim, linking it to the ongoing Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

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