No, pro-Indian PM Modi slogans were not raised at Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot's rally

By: Umme Kulsum
September 29 2023

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Screenshot of claims that showed slogans raised in support of PM Modi at CM Gehlot’s rally (Source: X/ Modified by Logically Facts)

What is the claim?

A video of Ashok Gehlot, the chief minister of the north Indian state of Rajasthan, is circulating on social media with the claim that slogans in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi were raised at a rally the former attended. The video comes ahead of the upcoming legislative assembly election in Rajasthan, where Gehlot's Congress and Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will battle it out to form the government. 

The video shows Gehlot waving at a crowd from a stage as the crowd raises' Modi-Modi' slogans. Around 15 seconds into the clip, the frame switches to a long shot of a stage where a person can be seen urging the crowd to raise slogans for late Congres leader and former PM Rajiv Gandhi, and CM Gehlot. 

Sharing the video on X (formerly Twitter), one user wrote, “नेता जी बोल रहें है दो नारों के अलावा तीसरा नारा कोई नहीं लगाएगा पर #राजस्थान की जनता मानती ही नहीं। (The political leader is saying that apart from the two slogans, no one will raise a third slogan, but the people of #Rajasthan do not agree." An archived version of the post can be viewed here.

The video is also viral on Facebook with a similar narrative. An archived version of such a post can be found here.

Screenshot of the false claim made online. (Source: X/ Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the pro-Modi slogans were digitally added to the viral clip.

What did we find?

Logically Facts' research revealed that two clips from different sports events were stitched together to spread a false narrative. Additionally, the audio of the slogans supporting PM Modi was digitally added to the video where CM Gehlot was seen waving at the crowd.

Video showing crowd purportedly chanting pro-Modi slogans

We found that the original video was shared by Gehlot on September 13, on both his official X and Facebook accounts. The video clip was captioned as, “मंत्री श्री राजेन्द्र यादव के साथ राजीव गांधी ग्रामीण ओलंपिक खेलों के ब्लॉक स्तरीय आयोजन में शामिल होने नावां, नागौर पहुंचे. ( Along with minister Rajendra Yadav, I visited Nawan, Nagaur to attend Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Olympic Khel 2022).” No ‘Modi-Modi’ slogans can be heard in this footage.

Screenshot of the video posted by CM Ashok Gehlot in September 2022. (Source: X/@ashokgehlot51)

We also looked for news reports to check whether Modi slogans were raised when Gehlot attended the block-level Rajiv Gandhi Rural Olympic sports event in September 2022 that was held in Nawan, Rajasthan. However, we couldn't find any media coverage about such an incident. Hence, it is clear that an audio clip of slogans supporting PM Modi was deliberately added to the original clip.

What about the person asking the crowd to hail Rajiv Gandhi and Gehlot?

A reverse image search of keyframes from the second clip in the viral video led us to a report by News 18 Hindi, titled in Hindi, “Video: गहलोत के कार्यक्रम से पहले सलाहकार नागर की भीड़ को धमकी, कहा- केवल 2 ही नारे लगाने और ताली बजानी है.” The report, which contained a screenshot of the clip, stated that on September 13, 2022, during a Rural Olympic sports event held in Dadu, Rajasthan, an advisor to Gehlot addressed the crowd just before the event and asked the attendees to chant slogans only for Rajiv Gandhji and the Rajasthan CM.

Taking a clue from this News 18 Hindi video, we looked for additional media coverage and came across several reports by media outlets covering this incident. According to a report by The Times of India (TOI), ahead of CM Gehlot's arrival at the event, Babulal Nagar threatened the public and said, "Raise only 2 slogans— 'Rajiv Gandhi Amar rahe' & 'Ashok Gehlot zindabad.' If you raise any other slogan, the police will put you behind bars, and a case will be filed." Crediting news agency ANI, the TOI report also shared the second clip from the viral video.

Screenshot of the video clip from the TOI news report. (Source: The Times of India)

According to News 18 Hindi, on September 13, 2022, Ashok Gehlot had attended two Rural Olympic competitions, one in Nawan and the other in Dadu. Clips from these two places have been clipped together for the viral video.

The verdict

Two clips from separate events held in Rajasthan on the same day have been clipped together to spread a false narrative. The first video has been digitally edited to include slogans supporting Narendra Modi.