Is Odisha’s Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik really smoking inside a bus during a rally? Know the truth.

Recently, BJD organized a rally for Odisha’s Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections to be held on 25 May in various parts of the state. Against this backdrop, a video of him smoking inside a bus during his rally is going viral on social media. 

Was Naveen Patnaik really smoking on the bus? No. The viral video is morphed. 

Below you can see the viral video. A user wrote, “Naveen Patnaik’s cigarette smoking video clip goes viral”

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Fact Check- 

A relevant keyword search led us to the same video uploaded on a YouTube channel on 20 April 2019. Hence, it is clear that this is not a recent video but 5 years old ago. Below you can see the video. 

Is Naveen Patnaik really smoking in this video?

We found another video on YouTube channel from 2019. But Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is not seen smoking inside the bus in this video. As seen in the viral video, Naveen Patnaik brought his hand to his mouth but there was no cigarette in his hand.

Below you can see a comparison between the screenshots taken from the viral video and the screenshots of the original video.

According to a report in 2019, during the election period, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik held rallies across the state. The BJD claimed that the opposition spread a fake video to defame him. Naveen Patnaik was tired after a long day of rallies. He brought his hand to his mouth to yawn, not to smoke a cigarette.

Same video was also posted by then BJD MP Anubhav Mohanty on his Facebook. He wrote, “People know how stoop can BJP Odisha go for its benefits. Recently, they were in trouble for spreading a fake video of a female candidate, but they are still doing this. BJP’s true colors are now visible to everyone. People will answer them.”

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Conclusion: 

Fact Crescendo found that the video was edited and a cigarette was added to Naveen Patnaik’s hand. Naveen Patnaik was not smoking in the original video. After long rallies he was tired and brought his hand to his mouth.