On April 17, Aam Aadmi Party’s Delhi unit shared a manipulated media of Home Minister Amit Shah to claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘sleeps’ 24-hours a day.
अमित शाह ने खोली मोदी जी की पोल- कहा 24 घंटे सोते है मोदी जी।
— Aam Aadmi Party Delhi (@AAPDelhi) April 17, 2021
काश! मोदी जी 24 घंटे ना सोते तो कुछ जाने बच सकती थी।#PMDoesNotCare pic.twitter.com/nuBcWAFGVa
In the tweet, AAP alleged that HM Amit Shah ‘exposed’ PM Modi and said, “Modi Ji sleeps 24 hours for benefit of poor.” The party further wrote, “If Modi Ji did not sleep for 24 hours, some lives could have been saved.” The tweet contains an eight-second clip which has Shah speaking while addressing a rally.
The truth behind the manipulated media
The video was clipped from HM Amit Shah’s public address in Chapra, West Bengal. When OpIndia checked the video, it was clear that Aam Aadmi Party tried to get away with mishearing’ sochte’ (think) with ‘sote’ (sleep).
During his address, Home Minister Shah had targeted West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. He said, “This government works for the benefit of the nephew of Banerjee. PM Modi keeps thinking 24 hours a day about how he can work for the benefit of the poor. On the other hand, didi [Mamata Banerjee] keeps thinking when his nephew will become Chief Minister.”
The social media team of Arvind Kejriwal’s party trimmed the video and made it look like as if HM Shah was criticizing PM Modi for ‘sleeping’ the whole day.
AAP has a track record of doctored videos and misinformation
Aam Aadmi Party has a long history of publishing misinformation and doctored or manipulative media. On December 8 last year, AAP claimed that Delhi Police had house arrested CM Kejriwal. However, Delhi Police released a video of Kejriwal attending a video to bust the party’s claims.
On April 8, 2021, AAP claimed that the Food Corporation of India was not procuring wheat in Delhi. However, FCI rubbished the claims and posted photographs of Mandis functioning in the state.
It has to be noted that former MLA of AAP Tahir Hussain, one of the main accused in the 2020 Delhi Riots, had allegedly used doctored videos to show himself as a victim of the riots. More details about Tahir’s alleged involvement in the riots can be read here.
