Did Amit Shah exhort crowd to not vote for Meenakshi Lekhi? Ajay Maken tweets clipped, misleading video - Alt News
Arjun Sidharth
3rd May 2019 / 10:37 pm
Its very strange-BJP President Sh Amit Shah himself says that do not vote for Meenakshi Lekhi! Then why should anyone vote for Lekhi ji?
With the above message, Congress leader from Delhi Ajay Maken tweeted a video on May 2 of BJP president Amit Shah speaking at a rally. The video clip is 18 seconds long. In it, Amit Shah can be heard appealing to the audience not to vote for the two BJP candidates present on the dais- Meenakshi Lekhi and Ramesh Bidhuri. Maken has also tagged Vishal Kundra, a Congress leader, crediting him for the video.
Its very strange-BJP President Sh Amit Shah himself says that do not vote for Meenakshi Lekhi!
Then why should anyone vote for Lekhi ji?
Please watch this video sent by @Kundra_Vishal 👇 pic.twitter.com/VaRXUBbiXA
— Ajay Maken (@ajaymaken) May 2, 2019
The exact words of Amit Shah in this video clip are,
“Magar hamare dono sansad pratyashi hain, behen Lekhi hain aur Ramesh Bidhuri hain, ye ek bhi kaam ke liye in dono ko vote mat dena, main kehta hoon aap ko, bhajpa ka adhyaksh hokar kehta hoon mere dono pratyashi ko ye ek bhi kaam ke liye vote mat…”. The video clip ends abruptly.
Translation: “But our two parliamentary candidates- Behen Lekhi and Ramesh Bidhuri, dont give them your vote for any of this work, I am saying this, as BJP president I am saying that for my two candidates, don’t vote them for any work…”
The video clip of Amit Shah has been mischievously edited and taken out of context, to make it seem as if Shah is bizarrely appealing to the crowd to not vote for his own party candidates. The video was streamed live by the Bharatiya Janata Party on its YouTube page on May 2, 2019. Shah was addressing a rally at Vasant Kunj in Delhi. The capital votes on May 12, in the sixth phase of polling.
The entire video has been posted below. The relevant portion begins from 1:20:05 and ends at 1:21:00, placing Amit Shah’s words in context.
Amit Shah says,
“Mitron, Narendra Modi ki sarkar ne dher saare kaam kiye, gareebon ke liye bahut saare kaam kiye, ghar diya, bijli diya, shauchalay diya, gas ka connection diya, shuddh pine ka paani diya, Dilli ke liye bhi bahut saari cheezein di, Magar hamare dono sansad pratyashi hain, behen Lekhi hain aur Ramesh Bidhuri hain, ye ek bhi kaam ke liye in dono ko vote mat dena, main kehta hoon aap ko, bhajpa ka adhyaksh hokar kehta hoon mere dono pratyashi ko ye ek bhi kaam ke liye vote mat dena, Dilli ke liye 1 lakh crore rupiya Modi ji ne kharch kara hai, uske liye bhi vote nahi dena hai, nahi dena hai, inko vote zaroor dena, Modi ji ne desh ko surakshit kiya hai isliye vote dena…”
Translation: “Friends, Narendra Modi’s govt has done a lot of work, a lot of work for the poor, (we) gave house, (we) gave electricity, (we) gave toilets, (we) gave gas connections, (we) gave clean drinking water, we have given a lot to Delhi, but our two parliamentary candidates- Behen Lekhi and Ramesh Bidhuri, dont give them your vote for any of these works, I am saying this, as BJP president I am saying dont vote for them for any of these works, Modi ji has spent 1 lakh crore rupees for Delhi, don’t vote for that either. Vote for them certainly, Modi ji has secured the country, vote for that.”
To sum it up, Amit Shah was appealing to the crowd to vote for the BJP candidates, not for the supposedly stupendous work done by the Modi govt, but on the issue of national security. One bit from this video was mischievously edited, and shared by no less than a senior leader like Ajay Maken, whose tweet has been retweeted close to 300 times. Maken’s tweet is still online, hours after it was pointed out to him that the video is misleading.
Arjun Sidharth is a writer with Alt News. He has previously worked in the television news industry, where he managed news bulletins and breaking news scenarios, apart from scripting numerous prime time television stories. He has also been actively involved with various freelance projects. Sidharth has studied economics, political science, international relations and journalism. He has a keen interest in books, movies, music, sports, politics, foreign policy, history and economics. His hobbies include reading, watching movies and indoor gaming.
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