Old video of Congress leader Kamal Nath edited to add fabricated audio

By: Chandan Borgohain
November 10 2023

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Screenshots of posts including the viral video edited with doctored audio of Kamal Nath. (Source: X/Facebook/Screenshots/Modified by Logically Facts)

Context

As multiple Indian states are gearing up for the upcoming Assembly elections, political misinformation has increasingly circulated on social media platforms. Of late, Logically Facts has debunked multiple such false and misleading claims. The Indian state of Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to go to the polls on November 17, and social media is witnessing a surge in content connected with state politics. 

What is the claim?

Amid this, a video clip featuring Madhya Pradesh Congress president and former chief minister Kamal Nath has gone viral on social media. The clip shows Nath in a meeting with a group of people, where he is purportedly discussing a reconsideration of the abrogation of Article 370 and promising to allow the reclamation of "a mosque site" in exchange for support from the Muslim community.

In the 30-second clip, Kamal Nath says, “I’ve been thinking of discussing with you for a long time. At first, bear in mind that this shouldn’t leak out. We are the most concerned and worried about you. That’s why Congress seeks support from our Muslim brothers, so that we can make decisions in your favor in the future. I assure you, keep supporting us, you will regain the mosque site, and (article) 370 will also be reconsidered. See, I can’t openly discuss everything, just understand this much..” 

Sharing the clip on X, a user wrote, “Kamalnath's secret talk…//What is he saying... we will get you the mosque land and 370 will also be considered…//Is there a consensus among the sycophants on such matters?” (Translated from Hindi). See the archived version here. 

Screenshot of the viral video on X. (Source: মScreenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

The video has also been shared on Facebook, with an Assamese caption that says, “(they will) remove 370, build 'masjids' everywhere, Kalanknath says that I can't say everything openly Listen to what the Congress will do for the Muslims.” (Translated from Assamese). See the archived version here.

Screenshot a Facebook post of the viral. (Source: Facebook/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, this is not true. Logically Facts found that the clip has been edited to add fabricated audio.

What did we find?

We performed a reverse image search on one of the keyframes of the clip and found a 2:25-minute-long video uploaded by Times Now on X (formerly Twitter) on November 21, 2018. We compared both clips and noticed that the timestamp from 0:01 to 0:12 of the Times Now video showing Kamal Nath on the left-hand side of the screen and the timestamp from 0:18 to 0:48 of the same video showing Nath along with other people in the meeting clearly match the viral clip. 

Comparison of screenshots of the viral video and the Times Now video. (Source: X/Times Now/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, we noted that the viral clip features a different audio. In the video, uploaded by Times Now with the caption, “Congress Leader Kamal Nath in the dock with 'Muslim vote bank' admission,” Nath can be heard commenting about RSS’ strategies during the election. “What are the RSS workers doing these days? I have the information. RSS people are spread all over. Let me talk about Chhindwara because people come and tell me. Since Chhindwara is adjoined to Nagpur, it is very convenient for them. They come in the morning and back at night. They have only one slogan, ‘If you want to vote a Hindu then vote for Hindu lion Modi’ and ‘If you want to vote for Muslims then vote for Congress’,” he said.

The unaltered clip was also uploaded by Hindi media outlet Lokmat Hindi on November 14, 2018, where the audio of Nath’s voice is identical to the Times Now clip. 

According to an NDTV report that shows a section of the clip, the video was in circulation weeks ahead of the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections on November 28, 2018. Taking this as a cue, we ran searches and found a report by The Times of India. According to the report – “Kamal Nath video finds Congress in another RSS controversy” – the viral video was recorded during a meeting of the former Madhya Pradesh CM with Muslim leaders ahead of the state’s assembly election in 2018. The report adds that after the video went viral and the subsequent controversy around it, Kamal Nath responded by saying that he stood by what he had said against the RSS. 

The verdict

The original video was recorded in November 2018, ahead of the state assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh. The viral clip has been edited to add a fabricated audio clip of Kamal Nath. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.