No, Mayawati Didn't Extend BSP's Support to BJP For 2023 Madhya Pradesh Election

This video dates back to 2020 and is edited to make it look like Mayawati is talking about Madhya Pradesh.

Fact-Check: An old video of Mayawati talking about Uttar Pradesh elections has been edited to show that she extended her support to BJP for Madhya Pradesh elections.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video showing Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati is going viral on the internet.

She says that the BSP will support any party including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to defeat Congress in Madhya Pradesh assembly elections.

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

What's the truth?: This viral video dates back to October 2020.

• It shows Mayawati extending her party's support to all other parties, including BJP, to defeat Samajwadi Party's second candidate in Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council Elections.

How did we find out?: We ran a reverse image search on some of the keyframes of the video along with relevant keywords which led us to an old British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hindi report.

• This article was published on 2 November 2020 and it carried the original version of the viral video.

• In the original video, Mayawati mentions about BSP voting for the BJP or any other party's candidate in the then-upcoming UP Legislative Council elections in order to defeat the Samajwadi Party's “second candidate.”

• She does not mention anything about Madhya Pradesh, the viral video has been altered to add that part.

The original video is from 2020.

(Source: BBC/Screenshot)

• Similar visuals were also shared by news agency Asian News International (ANI) on X (formerly Twitter) on 29 October 2020.

• The post states, "Mayawati will will vote for BJP or any party's candidate in future UP MLC elections, to defeat Samajwadi Party's second candidate."

More about this context: The same was also reported by The Indian Express on 30 October 2020.

• As per the report, Mayawati had made the statement about 'voting BJP' on 29 October 2020.

• However, according to another report by The Indian Express shared on 2 November 2020, Mayawati passed on a rather opposite remark about BJP.

• She said that the BSP would never enter into an alliance with the BJP in the assembly or the Lok Sabha elections.

Conclusion: An old video of Mayawati talking about Uttar Pradesh elections has been edited to show that she extended her support to BJP for the 2023 Madhya Pradesh assembly elections.

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