An altered video of Tejashwi Yadav where he speaks in a slurred tone is being shared on social media with a false claim that it shows the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader was intoxicated while speaking to reporters.
BOOM found that the original news video was slowed down to make it seem like Yadav was under the influence of alcohol while speaking to reporters.
In the viral 43-second footage with the Republic Bharat logo, Yadav can be heard speaking to reporters in Hindi in a slurred tone. He says, "Look, I have just landed now... and the way the departments have been distributed... although it is the (responsibility) of the prime minister... who is given which department... the work should be done in any department... But it was because of Bihar that you became the Prime Minister and when the ministry was given to the people of Bihar, a rattler toy was handed over from somewhere..."
The video is being shared with a caption accusing Yadav of being intoxicated while interacting with the press, "The country liquor seem to have stuck in his throat .. lousy buggers.. these junkies are our representatives."
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
Fact Check
BOOM first checked the official YouTube channel of Hindi news outlet Republic Bharat and found that the same footage was uploaded by the channel on June 11, 2024.
We found that the original news report featuring Yadav was 30 seconds long. However, when we slowed it down by 0.7 x on a video player app, it made the RJD leader sound intoxicated and extended the duration to 42 seconds, matching the length of the now-viral footage.
We also found that news agency ANI uploaded the same footage on its official YouTube channel on June 11, 2024. Click here for an archive of the ANI video.
Here is a comparison of the viral video with the original news report.
On the same day, another video of Yadav's interaction with reporters was uploaded on NDTV's official YouTube channel. This video also shows Yadav interacting with the media without any slurred tone.