Sambit Patra tweets edited video to portray Arvind Kejriwal supporting farm bills

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra recently tweeted an 18-second video of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The caption of the post reads, “Here, sir is mentioning the benefits of all three farm bills.” In the clip, CM Kejriwal can be heard saying, “Your land, MSP and mandis won’t be taken away. The farmer can now sell his crop anywhere in the country. Now, the farmer will get good prices, he can sell anywhere outside the mandi. Mr. Dilip, it would be the biggest revolutionary step in the field of agriculture in the last 70 years.” Patra’s tweet racked up thousands of likes and retweets at the time of writing. (Archive link)

तीनो farm bills के लाभ गिनाते हुए …Sir जी: pic.twitter.com/nBu1u7gkS7

— Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) January 30, 2021

BJP worker Vikash Preetam Sinha tweeted the video, writing, “If lies, deceit, cheating, manipulation and slyness had a face, it would be exactly this.” This tweet was retweeted by DD News journalist Ashok Srivastav.

Another verified handle tweeted the video, claiming that Arvind Kejriwal spoke out in support of the centre’s new agricultural laws.

Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party comes out in support of Farm Laws pic.twitter.com/8JkFnP1uOA

— J (@Sootradhar) January 30, 2021

Twitter user Gopal Goswami shared the viral clip and wrote, “This man is the biggest cheat of this century, listen to what he had to say about the farm bills a year ago.” Apart from this, a few other handles including @Being_Humor and @capt_mishra also posted the video.

यह आदमी इस सदी का सबसे बड़ा स्कैम है, सुनिए एक वर्ष पहले का कृषि बिल पर इनका अभिप्राय क्या था pic.twitter.com/HCAwdJ0tcv

— Gopal Goswami (@gopugoswami) January 29, 2021

Fact-check

Sambit Patra shared a doctored video of the Delhi Chief Minister. In the original clip, Arvind Kejriwal can be heard speaking against the farm bills. A number of social media users pointed out that this was an edited clip. We found that this 18-second video has been made by putting together several smaller clips from different points in the video. They have been highlighted later in this report.

Zee Punjab Haryana Himachal uploaded the full-length video on January 15, 2021 where the Delhi CM was being interviewed by the channel’s editor Dilip Tiwari and his colleague Jagdeep Sandhu.

Sandhu questions the CM at the beginning of the video. Around the 5:55 mark he says, “The central government claims that they are trying to double the farmer’s income.”

Arvind Kejriwal – “How? The central government and the Bharatiya Janata Party fielded big leaders. All their senior ministers and chief ministers came to convince the public that this Bill was for the farmers’ benefit. I have heard all these speeches. What do they say in these speeches? They say that this bill will not take away your land, but this is not a benefit. The land is theirs anyway. Your MSP will not be taken away. That’s not a benefit either, it was already available. Your mandi will not be taken away. And this was also already there in the first place. So, what happened? Not a single leader is able to list the benefits. When you prod them further, they say that the farmer can now sell his crop anywhere in the country. This is the only benefit they mention, right? Now, the farmer will get good prices, he can sell anywhere outside the mandi. I want to ask the Centre directly with all due respect. Today, the MSP for one quintal of wheat is Rs 1,800 in the mandis of Punjab and Haryana. There is no mandi in Bihar, and farmers there are selling wheat for Rs. 800. This farmer that’s selling for Rs 800, can you tell him where he should go to get more than Rs 1,800 for his wheat outside of the mandi?”

Furthermore, at the 9:48 mark, Arvind Kejriwal responds to another question, saying, “These three farm bills should be repealed. And a law guaranteeing MSP should be introduced. According to the MS Swaminathan Commission, MSP should be calculated by adding the cost after 50% profit to 50% of this value. If such a law is introduced, Mr. Dilip, it would be the biggest revolutionary step in the field of agriculture in the last 70 years.”

Thus, an 18-second clip was edited by compiling several cropped clips from a recent Arvind Kejriwal interview to show that the CM was speaking in support of the farm laws. This doctored clip was also shared by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra. Alt News has compiled various instances where Patra has been caught spreading misinformation in the past:

(Also read: BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra: Propaganda powered with misinformation)