Fact-check: Was Amit Shah left tongue-tied by a reporter in Telangana?

A clip of a journalist interviewing home minister Amit Shah has gone viral on social media. In the 14-second video, the journalist is heard saying to Shah, “It rained heavily here and there were floods as well, but not a single penny came from the central government.” This is where the clip ends and is played for a second time. It must be noted that the place of the interview has not been mentioned in the video or on the social media posts. The video contains ‘V6 News’ watermark.

This video is viral on Twitter with the claim that Amit Shah was silenced by the “brave” journalist.

Twitter user @FUNNYSRK shared this video and garnered over 7,500 likes and 2,032 retweets. (Archived tweet)

Epic Moment ????????#AmitShah #Telangana pic.twitter.com/nnwCxsy7lv

— SARCASTIC ???? SHAHRUKH ???? (@FUNNYSRK) July 3, 2022

Additional Advocate General of Chhattisgarh at Supreme Court and member of the All India Congress Committee Ashok Basoya also shared this video with the same claim. (Archived tweet)

पत्रकार – जब बारिश आया इधर बाढ़ आया तब मोदी सरकार तेलंगाना का कोई मदद नहीं किया अमित शाह – चुप्पी ????
इसे कहते है पत्रकारीता ???????? @INCTelangana @VamsiChandReddy @KomatireddyKVR pic.twitter.com/OhNqHcKTQY

— Ashok Basoya (@ashokbasoya) July 4, 2022

Twitter user @Advaidism shared a video where the journalist is also seen asking Amit Shah about the privatisation of Railways and BSNL along with the aforementioned clip. His tweet garnered almost 7,000 likes and over 1,500 retweets. (Archived tweet)

Hogaya Bhai ???? pic.twitter.com/x9W1ZNekJW

— Advaid അദ്വൈത് (@Advaidism) July 5, 2022

This video was also shared on Facebook with the same claim.

Fact-heck

At 0:08 in the video, there is a jump cut which indicates that the clip has been edited. Using keywords “V6 News” and “Amit Shah” on YouTube, Alt News found a V6 News Telugu video dated November 29, 2020. The video is an interview of Amit Shah by V6 News reporter Shiva Reddy. The interview occurred during a rally in Hyderabad, ahead of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Elections 2020. Reddy was heard questioning Shah about several pertinent issues in Telangana one of which was the 2020 Hyderabad floods that were known to have caused extensive damage and loss of life.

The segment heard in the viral clip begins at 0:39 when the journalist asks Shah about the Hyderabad floods and the central government’s alleged reluctance to send help. In the V6 News report, Shah responded to Reddy’s question by saying, “We had sent the maximum amount of money to Hyderabad. But where were Owaisi and KCR when the houses of 7 lakh residents got flooded?” He also alleged that “the primary reason behind the flooding was the increase in land encroachment in the city, something that Owaisi was responsible for”. Shah then vowed to rectify these loopholes if the BJP won the GHMC elections in 2020. It is thus apparent that Shah’s response to Reddy’s question was political rhetoric.

As of January 30, 2021, the Centre had released Rs 245.96 crores, three months after the state sought immediate financial assistance of Rs 1,350 crore in October 2020.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won 48 seats in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections of 2020. In comparison, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) won 55 and 44 seats respectively.

Thus, a clipped video of a journalist questioning Amit Shah is viral on social media with the false claim that the journalist had “silenced” Shah. But the Home Minister wasn’t left tongue-tied. He did answer the reporter’s question even as his response was political rhetoric. This part was left out in the viral video.

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