India TV Fact Check: A video clip featuring Bollywood actor Pankaj Tripathi has been widely circulating on social media, with the claim that the actor campaigned against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and warned voters to be cautious about the promises made by the BJP.
What is going viral?
An X post by the AAP's Rajasthan unit and several other handles features a video starring Bollywood actor. In the video, he purportedly speaks about how even a peanut seller (the character he features in the viral video) is not a fool to vote for the BJP, as they know that if the latter is voted to power, they will evade with the government money. "I sell peanuts, not my brain. Check this message shared by the BJP, which highlights that if they are voted to power, they will bring development. But do you think I don’t know anything? Here, if I vote for the BJP, they will evade the government money. I am a peanut seller, not a fool. Remember, if the BJP tempts you, mention that 'I am not a fool'," Pankaj Tripathi's statement in the video mentioned.
It is pertinent to mention that the video is going viral months ahead of the February 2025 Delhi Assembly elections.
India TV did investigation
To verify the claim, we first did a reverse image search of the keyframes from the video using Google Lens. This search led to the original video posted by the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) social media account on Facebook on September 23.
In the video, which appears to be the same as the one shared by AAP social media handles but with some alterations, Pankaj Tripathi talks about UPI-related frauds alongside a Moongfaliwala. He emphasises the need for everyone to be cautious about such scams. However, in the viral clip, the content has been altered to include the BJP’s symbol and the message: "Vote for BJP" instead of discussing frauds related to UPI.
Further, we also came across a few news articles, which state that the UPI launched a UPI safety awareness campaign, “Main Moorkh Nahi Hoon”, earlier in September, and the video featuring Pankaj Tripathi was made as part of the campaign only.
What came out in Fact Check?
The fact check done by India TV has revealed that the claim being made with the post going viral on social media is manipulated to falsely attribute political campaigning against the BJP. The video posted by the AAP was altered, and Pankaj Tripathi did not talk about voting against the BJP. The video was originally made as part of a UPI safety awareness campaign, 'Mai Murkh Nahin Hoon'.
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