Edited video of Bihar politician Tejashwi Yadav used to claim he was ‘drunk’ during media briefing

What is the claim? 

Social media users have shared a video claiming that Tejashwi Yadav, Bihar politician and chairman of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), was inebriated during a media address. The 43-second video, circulated on X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube, shows Yadav speaking slowly and appearing to slur his words while addressing reporters.

Screenshots of posts from X with captions in Hindi claiming Tejashwi Yadav was intoxicated during a media interaction. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

In the video, Yadav is heard saying slowly, “See, I have just landed. The way the ministry portfolios have been divided, even though it is up to the prime minister (to decide) who gets which ministry, and work should happen in every ministry(sic). But when you have become the prime minister because of Bihar, and when (looking at) the ministries has been given to (people of Bihar), somewhere it feels like they have just given rattle toys (sic).”

A user on X shared the clip (archived here) with the caption, “Tejasvi Yadav, Ex-Deputy CM- Bihar. Drunk. & (sic) Bihar is Dry State (No Alcohol). Jhum Barabar Jhum (keep on dancing)”.

Similar posts on X can be viewed here and here. A user also shared the clip on YouTube (archived here), saying, “See how one talks to the press after having a peg.”

The BJP-led NDA coalition secured 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, defeating the INDIA bloc that Yadav belongs to.

However, the claims made on social media are false, and the RJD Chairman was not intoxicated during the media interaction.

What we found

Using the logo in the viral clip and Hindi keywords from Yadav’s statement, we located the original video (archived here) on the Indian news outlet Republic Bharat’s YouTube channel. Uploaded on June 11, 2024, under the title "What did Tejashwi Yadav say when taking a dig at the division of ministries (translated from Hindi)?”, the video is only 30 seconds long and does not show Yadav slurring or speaking slowly.

When we slowed down the playback speed of this video to 0.75x, we observed that it matched the slurred and slowed effect seen in the now-viral videos. Additionally, the edited video length matches the 43-second duration of the circulated clips. A comparison reveals that social media users utilized an edited, slowed-down version of the video to propagate a false claim.

A comparison between the video circulating on social media and the video uploaded by Republic Bharat on their YouTube channel. (Source: X/YouTube/Republic Bharat)

The playback speed in the original Republic video also matches that of videos showing the same media interaction uploaded to YouTube on June 11 by other news platforms such as NDTV and The Statesman (archived here and here).

The verdict

A video of RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has been edited to falsely suggest he was addressing reporters in an intoxicated state. We found that the original video was manipulated by slowing it down to support this claim.