DigitEye India Fact Checkers
A viral clip of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari criticising prime minister is being shared with a claim that Gadkari critised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for calling protesters ‘Andolanjivi’.
‘Andolanjivi’ described by the prime minister to sarcastically describe a person who jumps from one protest to another, in his speech in Lok Sabha on February 10, 2021, talking about the ongoing farmers’ protests had taken a jibe at the protesters saying that it is important to differente between ‘Andolankari’ and ‘Andolanjivi’ saying the latter are the ones who hijacked the farmers’ movement for their vested interests.
केन्द्रीय मंत्री नितिन गड़करी ने रवि शंकर प्रसाद की उपस्थिति में प्रंधानमंत्री के #आंदोलनजीवी शब्द पर प्रधानमंत्री की खुले आम आलोचना एवं भर्त्सना की!#आंदोलनजीवी pic.twitter.com/xH9056PnGP
— Subhash Kumar Sojatia (@subhashsojatia) February 10, 2021
In the viral clip, Gadkari can be heard saying that what the prime minister is saying is against democracy and protesting against the corrupt leader/government is a constitutional right.
The clip is being shared with the caption that reads केन्द्रीय मंत्री नितिन गड़करी ने रवि शंकर प्रसाद की उपस्थिति में प्रंधानमंत्री के #आंदोलनजीवी शब्द पर प्रधानमंत्री की खुले आम आलोचना एवं भर्त्सना की! #आंदोलनजीवी, when translated as: “Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in the presence of another minister Ravi Shankar Prasad openly criticized and condemned the word “Andholanjivi” used by the Prime Minister! #आंदोलनजीवी.”
The Digiteye Team received the message for a check on its WhatsApp. The video clip is also being shared on social media here and here.
FACT CHECK
Frame-wise break and search on Google shows that the viral clip is not new but an old one that was circulated on August 15, 2011, when Nitin Gadkari, then BJP president, was criticising former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after his Independence Day speech.
Then PM Manmohan Singh had criticised the anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare, who had said that he would go on fast from Aug. 16, 2011 against corruption. Then PM Manmohan Singh had said that there was no magic wand to end corruption and that hunger strikes are not a means to achieve the objective. BJP’s criticism had been widely reported as seen below:
Further search on Youtube revealed that it was originally uploaded on YouTube on August 16, 2011, on BJP’s official channel with the caption, “BJP Byte: Anna Hazare & Prime Minister”, and it had the original clip showing Gadkari making the same statement: “Looks like there is a policy that if you hold a protest, we will not allow it. The way this government is working and the statement by the Prime Minister is completely against democracy.” Here’s the original video uploaded by BJP on Aug. 16, 2011.
Claim: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in the presence of another minister Ravi Shankar Prasad openly criticized and condemned the word “Andholanjivi” used by the Prime Minister.
Conclusion: The 2011 video resurfaced in the context of PM Modi’s speech on the farmers’ protests, with a false claim. Both the context and the wording has been misinterpreted to conform to the present farmers’ protests.
Our rating of the claim is Misinterpretation — 
.
