Fact Check: Modi DID NOT accuse Karnataka people of committing sin, viral clip was cut out of context

Did Prime Minister Narendra Modi call the people of Karnataka “sinners” during a campaign speech? With people gearing up for the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections, many on social media shared a video of PM Modi claiming the same. In it, Modi can be heard asking people to punish the “Karnataka waalon” during the elections for committing sin.

Sharing the video on Facebook , one person wrote, “As expected, he is attacking an entire state now, not even sparing the people who supported BJP. ‘Ye Karnataka wolo ne jo paap kiya hai’ He is questioning the intelligentsia of the entire state.” Its archive can be seen here.

India Today Fact Check found that the video is clipped. In the full video, PM Modi could be seen criticising the Congress party, not the people of Karnataka.

OUR PROBE

Reverse-searching keyframes from the viral video led us to an Asianet News report containing a screenshot of the viral clip. According to it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a rally in Karnataka’s Belagavi on April 28, in which he accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of insulting Hindu kings and glorifying Muslim rulers among several other things.

Using this clue, we found the live stream of this rally shared on the YouTube channel of PM Modi. In this video, the portion of the viral clip can be seen at the 32-minute mark. Right before PM Modi made this statement, he talked about how Congress allegedly betrayed the farmers of Karnataka.

“The betrayal that the Congress has committed with the farmers here, that’s an enormous sin. When the BJP was in power here, Rs 10,000 would get deposited in farmers’ bank accounts. The Congress government, the moment it came to power, stopped paying Rs 4,000. They received the votes. Now they don’t care about the farmers. Farmers now only receive the Rs 6,000 that Modi sends them. They cut their share. But you will continue to receive the money under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi,” said Modi.

He then made the viral comment. This made it clear that Modi did not refer to the people of Karnataka when he said “Karnataka waalon”. Rather, he was referring to the Congress government in the state.

We also found several media reports about this rally. A report by Deccan Herald quoted this PM Modi statement about the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme where he criticised the Congress of letting the farmers down.

In the same rally, Modi also attacked Rahul Gandhi for allegedly insulting Hindu kings but keeping mum on atrocities committed by Muslim rulers. He also accused Congress of prioritising appeasement while atrocities and crimes were being committed in the state.

It is thus, clear that a clipped video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was shared to falsely claim that he accused the people of Karnataka of committing a sin.