Did Indian PM Narendra Modi ask people to vote for Congress? No, viral clip is edited

What is the claim?

A short clip of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi going viral on social media claiming to show him asking people to vote for the Congress party. In the viral 7-second clip, the Indian PM and Bharatiya Janata Party leader purportedly says, "अगर आपको अपने परिवार के बच्चों का भला करना है तो आप…तो फिर कांग्रेस को वोट दीजिये. (If you want the good for the children of your family…then give your vote to Congress," at a public meeting. The video also includes overlaid text that says, "Vote for Congress." 

The video has surfaced amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, which will conclude on June 4 when the results will be announced. Social media users have shared the video with captions like, "Modi ji himself is saying that if you want to do good for the children of your family, then vote for Congress (translated from Hindi)." Another user wrote, "#MODI Ask Vote for ✋ Congress For Good Education And Jobs And Development for India (sic)." Archived versions of these posts and similar others making the same claim can be viewed here, here, here, and here.

Screenshot of the viral social media posts. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, in the original video, Modi had not asked people to vote for the Congress party if they wanted to secure the future of their children.

What are the facts?

A reverse image search led us to a longer version of the viral clip, which was uploaded (archive link) on PM Narendra Modi's verified YouTube channel on June 27, 2023. This video, which was more than slightly two-and-a-half minutes long, was uploaded with a Hindi title that loosely translated to, "If you want your son's and daughter's betterment, then vote for BJP #MeraBoothSabseMajboot (my booth strongest among all)." The title itself suggests that Modi was actually asking people to vote for BJP, not Congress, contrary to claims made online. 

The first bit of the viral clip, where Modi says, "अगर आपको अपने परिवार के बच्चों का भला करना है … (If you want to do good for your family's children then…) starts from the 2:33 mark in this YouTube video. Modi immediately competes the sentence saying, "...तो आप वोट भाजपा को दीजिये (then you vote for the BJP)." He doesn't mention Congress when asking people to vote for the welfare of their children.

The video's description read, "PM Modi addressed a public meeting on 'Mera Booth Sabse Majboot (my booth strongest among all)' in Bhopal. PM Modi acknowledged the role of the state of Madhya Pradesh in making the BJP the biggest political party in the world." Modi was addressing BJP workers ahead of the November 2023 Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections.

We found the full video (archived link) of the event, which was also uploaded to PM Modi's verified YouTube channel on June 23. This video was nearly two-and-a-half hours long and included the aforementioned bit about Modi asking others to vote for the BJP around the 2:02:50 timestamp. 

How was the viral video created?

In the second longer YouTube video, a more extended version of the viral clip, Modi names various opposition leaders and claims that if voters want the welfare of a particular leader's family members, they should vote for the corresponding party to which the leader belongs. At the 2:01:23 timestamp of this YouTube video, he says, “आपको गाँधी परिवार के बेटी बेटे का विकास करना है, तो फिर कांग्रेस को वोट दीजिये. (If you want to see the welfare of the Gandhi family's children, then vote for the Congress." (He was referring to the family of former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.)

The bit where he says, "…तो फिर कांग्रेस को वोट दीजिये (then vote for the Congres)" has been extracted and used right after the bit, "अगर आपको अपने परिवार के बच्चों का भला करना है … (If you want to do good for your family's children then…)" to make it appear that he asked people to vote for the BJP rival in the viral clip. However, he had clearly said that if people wanted the welfare of their family's children, then they should vote for the BJP.

News 18 had also posted a video of the speech on X (archived here) on June 27, 2023, with the caption, "PM Modi asked the public that if you want development of the children of Gandhi family then vote for Congress, if you want the welfare of Mulayam's son then vote for Samajwadi Party, if you want the welfare of the children of Lalu family then vote for RJD, if you want the welfare of your own family then vote for BJP (translated from Hindi)." Around the 1:30 mark here, we can see the bit where Modi asks people to vote for the BJP if they want to ensure the welfare of their children.

India Today had published a report on June 27, 2023, and shared an image of Modi from the event mentioned in the YouTube videos uploaded on his channels. The image shows similar visuals from the viral video. The outlet captioned the image: "PM Modi addressing party workers under the party's "Mera Booth Sabse Majboot" campaign in Bhopal." This report also quoted Modi as saying, "If you want the welfare of your sons, daughters, and grandchildren, then vote for the BJP and not any family-oriented parties."

The verdict

The video of Modi asking people to 'vote for Congress' is edited. In the original clip, he asked people to vote for the BJP if they wanted the welfare of their children. Therefore, we have marked the claim as false.