Fact Check: Clipped Video Of PM Modi Talking About ‘Ballot Paper Voting’ Viral With Misleading Claims

Ahead of the Karnataka elections, a video showing PM Modi speaking in support of ballot papers is widely circulated on social media, claiming that he was against EVMs before becoming the Prime Minister.

The video is shared with a text: खुद ईवीएम हटवाना चाहते थे अब ईवीएम हटाकर बैलेट पेपर लागू कर दो सत्ता तुम्हारे हाथ में

Here’s the link to the above post.

FACT CHECK 

NewsMobile fact-checked the post, and found it to be false.

A report by NDTV, dated December 03, 2016, mentions that Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed BJP volunteers at the Parivartan Rally in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh.

The reports, which highlighted the key points of Modi’s speech, also had a point related to ballot papers. “The people who say Indians are illiterate, Indians don’t know anything. But around the world, people use paper ballots. India votes through a button,” the article quoted PM Modi as saying.

Searching further for the original speech, we found the same on the official YouTube Channel of Narendra Modi, which was streamed live on December 3, 2016.

The title of the report reads: “PM Modi at Parivartan Rally in New Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh.”

Carefully going through his full speech, we found the viral statement at 55:20 min of the video. At 55:09 min he can be heard saying, “Some people say that our country is poor, our people are uneducated and they do not know anything. Brothers and sisters, when educated countries go to polls, the voters read the names on ballot papers and then put a stamp on them, even today. This still happens in countries like America. However, in India, who they call uneducated, people cast their votes by pressing buttons.”