A video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah is going viral to claim that he recently said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will end SC/ST reservations if voted to power.
What have users said?: Linking the video to 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, social media users have shared it with a caption that said, "Will cancel ST, SC reservations if BJP govt is formed again: Amit Shah."
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)
The video is being widely shared on social media platforms like Facebook and X. You can view archives of several such posts here, here, and here.
Are these claims true?: No, the video is old and has been edited to mislead the viewers. In the original one, Shah was heard talking about ending Muslim reservations if the BJP is voted to power in Telangana.
What led us to the truth?: A closer look at the viral video showed a watermark on the bottom-left of the screen, which said "V6 News."
The viral video had a watermark.
(Source: Viral video/Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)
Taking this forward, we performed a keyword search on YouTube using the words "V6 News Amit Shah reservations".
This directed us to a longer version of the same video shared on the official channel of 'V6 News Telugu'.
The video was published on 23 April 2023 and was titled, "Union Minister Amit Shah Comments Muslim Reservations | V6 Weekend Teenmaar."
At around the 2:39 timestamp, Shah could be heard saying, "If the BJP is voted to power, then the unconstitutional Muslim reservation will be ended in the state. This right belongs to Telangana's SC, ST, and OBC communities and they will get this right. We will end Muslim reservations."
Full version of the speech: Team WebQoof found the full version of Shah's speech available on his official YouTube channel.
It was streamed live on 23 April 2023 and was titled, "HM Amit Shah addresses 'Vijaya Sankalp Sabha' in Chevella, Telangana (23 Apr 2023)."
One can hear Shah making the same statement about ending Muslim reservations in the state at around the 14:40 timestamp.
Conclusion: This video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah talking about ending SC/ST reservations if voted to power is old and edited.
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