Aamir Khan responds after doctored video showing him ‘promoting Congress’ emerges on social media: ‘Never endorsed any political party’

Aamir Khan responds after doctored video showing him ‘promoting Congress’ emerges on social media: ‘Never endorsed any political party’

As the Lok Sabha elections draw near, political parties and their members have intensified their efforts to sway the outcome in their favour. Utilising various tactics such as posters, pamphlets, recorded phone calls, videos, roadshows, and public gatherings, they are leaving no stone unturned to woo voters.

Nevertheless, amidst the fervent campaigning, controversies have also arisen. The latest one revolves around a video that recently went viral, showing Bollywood icon Aamir Khan purportedly urging people to stay away from those who make false promises and batting for a particular party. In the aftermath, Aamir’s team reacted firmly, stating that the video was fake and that Aamir had not endorsed any political parties.

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The 31-second video begins with the actor stating that India “is not a poor country”. “If you think that India is a poor country, you are wrong. Every citizen of this country is a lakhpati (a person who owns lakhs of rupees). Every person should have at least Rs 15 lakh with them,” he can be heard saying, in what appears to be a clear swipe at BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the infamous “Rs 15 lakh to all” claim.

“You don’t have that amount with you? So, where did your Rs 15 lakh go? Be careful of those giving false promises,” Aamir purportedly says, as the video ends with a request to vote for Congress.

However, closer scrutiny of the video will immediately reveal inconsistencies, indicating that the clip has been doctored. Not only is it old, as Aamir appears significantly younger than he is now, but his lip movements and the words heard don’t complement each other often, making it clear that the video has been dubbed over.

Nevertheless, it needs to be mentioned here that the content of the original video shares some similarities. Shot as a promo for an episode of his talk show Satyamev Jayate, in the original footage, Aamir mentions that every citizen in the country is a crorepati and should ideally possess at least Rs 1 crore. He then ‘observes’ that viewers may not have that amount and encourages them to tune in to the talk show to understand why.

Watch original video here:

After the video went viral, with even Congress leaders circulating it rampantly, Aamir Khan’s spokesperson asserted that the actor has not endorsed any political party and underscored that “this is a fake video and totally untrue.”

“We want to clarify that Mr Aamir Khan has never endorsed any political party throughout his 35-year career. He has dedicated his efforts to raising public awareness through Election Commission public awareness campaigns for many past elections. We are alarmed by the recent viral video alleging that Aamir Khan is promoting a particular political party. He would like to clarify that this is a fake video and totally untrue. He has reported the matter to various authorities related to this issue, including filing an FIR with the Cyber Crime Cell of the Mumbai Police,” the actor’s official spokesperson said in a statement issued to the media. “Mr Khan would like to urge all Indians to come out and vote and be an active part of our electoral process,” the spokesperson added.

During the 2014 general election campaigns, BJP’s PM-face Narendra Modi had claimed that each citizen could get Rs 15 lakh if all black money was unearthed. Later, senior party leader and former union minister (late) Arun Jaitley stated that the contention was based on “illustrative” figures cited in various estimates.

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