A video is being widely shared on social media in which Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is seen making statements in favour of Muslims.
In the video, he could be heard saying, “Muslims should have the first right to the resources of the nation. You are trying to divide India in the name of Muslims and non-Muslims, or minority and majority.”
Those sharing the video claim that UP BJP leaders are now trying to appease Muslims after a poor performance in the state Lok Sabha polls.
“After the election results, everyone’s attitude has changed. Everyone is supporting Muslims. No one is taking the side of the blind fanatic anymore. (translated from Hindi)”
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. In the video, the UP CM is criticising Congress’ ‘appeasement policies’ on minorities.
We closely observed the video and found the Rajasthan Patrika’s news logo in the top-right corner.
Taking this clue, we searched with appropriate keywords and found the same video uploaded on the Rajasthan Patrika YouTube channel on April 23, 2024.
The video’s title read, ‘Lok Sabha Elections 2024: CM Yogi takes a dig at Congress and said, “You want to divide the nation.” (translated from Hindi)’ The Lok Sabha election results were declared on June 4. This showed that the video was from before the announcement of election results.
We also found the extended Yogi’s interview byte on the Instagram account of the 3N news network, published on April 23, 2024.
In the longer version, he is seen accusing Congress of creating the issues being faced by the people of the country.
Quoting Yogi, the caption read, “The then prime minister of the country Manmohan Singh had said that Muslims have the first right over the resources of the country. Under whose authority did he make these comments?”
We also found that the news outlet ANI tweeted the extended video on April 23, 2024.
About the 3:37-minute video, quoting Yogi Adityanath, the ANI caption said, “Congress gave the slogan ‘Garibi Hatao’ in 1970, yet it could not be removed. Congress ruled this nation for more than six decades, and they have been misleading the people by raising the same slogan. Even after 70 years of independence, Congress and its allies have not been able to provide 50 crore people with a bank account. Many people were deprived of these basic needs for which Congress and its allies are responsible. They want to divide the nation based on Muslims and non-Muslims, minority and majority.”
Hence, we conclude that the viral video is old and shows UP CM Yogi Adityanath alleging that Congress is dividing the country on religious lines. The claim is false.