Amit Shah BJP Guarantee Congress

The Verdict [ Misleading]

In the original video, the union home minister can be heard talking about the Indian National Congress' (INC) poll promises and not that of the BJP.

What’s the claim

A purported video of the Indian Union Home Minister Amit Shah is being shared on social media with a claim that he said there is no meaning to the promises made during elections, implying that he was referring to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In the six-second clip, Shah can be heard saying, “That’s why I say there is no meaning to this ‘guarantee’. They say it during elections and then forget.”

Sharing the video, a user on X (formerly Twitter) wrote that this is a poll gimmick and urged the voters to be careful, adding that this is a “big expose on #ModikiGuarantee by Amit Shah.” Archived versions of such posts can be found here and here. The clip has also gained traction on Facebook and Instagram, where users have said that Shah himself “exposed” his party.

Screenshot of claims made online. (Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, this is misleading. In the original video, Shah was referring to the guarantees made by the Indian National Congress (INC) and not by the prime minister.

What we found

The video is a small segment from Amit Shah's recent interview to Smita Prakash, editor-in-chief of news agency Asian News International (ANI). The original video was published on the agency’s official YouTube channel (archived here) on May 15, 2024.

During the interview, at the 25:15 minute mark, Prakash asked Shah about Congress' guarantees which he had previously referred to as “Chinese Guarantees”. In response, he said, "I called it “Chinese guarantee” on the basis of its durability.” He then said, “I just went to Telangana. The women there are still waiting for their Rs 12,000, the farmers are waiting for their loan waivers, and the girls are waiting for their promised scooters. These were guarantees made by Rahul ji. Now you try to find Rahul ji."

Prakash then goes on to say that the elections in the southern part are over and Rahul Gandhi has moved to the northern part of the country. Following this, at 26:05 minute mark, Shah made the statement featured in the viral video, saying, "But even when he was in the South, he would make promises, which is why I say that this guarantee is meaningless. They say it during elections and then forget."