A video of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee has been going viral on social media with the claim that he threatened to enter the homes of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters in West Bengal and attack them.
What did the post say?: The video was uploaded on X (formerly Twitter) on 30 May by a user named 'gourabsays' with the caption, "Remember that famous threat of ur master (sic) Abhishek Banerjee (The Kingpin of infamous Diamond Harbour Model) on - How he will 'kill & murder BJP supporters, leaders by entering their houses'!! Today Karma showed him Mirror."
In the seven-second-long video, Banerjee can be heard saying in Bengali, "The day a government headed by Mamata Banerjee and the INDIA alliance is formed, we will enter their houses and strike them."
(You can view other archives of similar claims here, here, and here.)
What are the facts?: The claim is misleading as the video has been cropped. In the original video, it is clear that Banerjee wasn't threatening BJP supporters.
How did we find out the truth?: A reverse image search of the video's keyframes via Google Lens led us to a longer video, which provides the context in which he made those remarks.
The video was uploaded on Facebook by user 'PK Talks' and is over two minutes long. In it, Banerjee can be heard responding to the threats of Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, who had on 4 April threatened to launch strikes against Kolkata.
"Two days ago, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said he will blow up Kolkata. The Prime Minister, Defence Minister, and Home Minister are silent. The day a government headed by Mamata Banerjee and the INDIA alliance is formed, we will enter their houses and strike them," Banerjee can be heard saying in the video.
While addressing reporters in Pakistan's Sialkot on 4 April, Asif had said, "If India tries to stage any false flag operation this time, then God-willing, we will take it to Kolkata."
A Google search with keywords such as 'Abhishek Banerjee answers Khawaja Asif threat Kolkata' led us to several videos and reports published on Banerjee's response to Asif.
"Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Monday triggered a political storm as he issued a direct threat against Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, saying that 'we will enter Pakistan and kill (him),' in response to his recent warning involving Kolkata," stated this report by India Today published on 7 April.
The report also mentioned that Banerjee had made these remarks during an election rally in West Bengal's Siliguri on 6 April.
The Google search also led to the original video of Banerjee's speech published by West Bengal-based news outlet Ei Samay. In the 26-minute-long video, Banerjee can be heard issuing the same statement against Asif's threat from 10:16 to 10:49.
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