Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
Claim
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli decided not to provoke KMC Mayor Balen Shah.
Fact
Viral video shows Prime Minister Oli telling his party cadres to stand up for the party.
A video allegedly showing Prime Minister and Chairman of CPN-UML KP Sharma Oli saying that he will not provoke the mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Balendra Shah is going viral on TikTok.
The video goes viral at a time when Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and KMC Mayor Balen Shah have been taking swipes at each other. Raper-turned-Mayor Balen Shah is known for his maverick style and writes on his social media pages criticising PM Oli for his alleged “policy corruption” on various issues.
Against this backdrop, TikTok user @lajniti.com posted a video showing Prime Minister KP Sharma speaking above a photo of Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah. Text superimposed on the video reads, “He [Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli] has decided not to provoke Balen Shah.” In the video Oli says, “We have our own weaknesses. If we provoke them, they may expose us. It is better not to aggravate them. It will be ruinous to provoke them in case they expose us.”
The video posted on Monday has garnered 5004 likes, 485 users have shared it and 579 people have commented on it until the last count.
Newschecker found the claim to be misleading.
Fact Check /Verification
To check the authenticity of the claim made in the viral video, Newschecker took a key frame from the viral video and ran a reverse search on it. A reverse search on Google led us to several videos resembling the frame from the viral video. On checking a video, dated Sept 14, 2024, published on Deshsanchar online, we found that the video clip was different from the viral clip.
We read the description of the video titled ‘I hadn’t seen people clamouring for monarchy in such a shameless manner’ and found that the video was captured during a recent workshop for party cadres held in Kathmandu.
We, then, closely observed the viral video and noticed a logo of Yoho TV on the top left corner of the viral video. Taking a clue, we searched the YouTube channel of Yoho Television and found a video titled ‘KP Oli directs his party youths to speak against Balen Shah’ published on September 14, 2024. The video clip from 0.52-minute to 1.07-minute exactly matched the viral clip.
On checking the full video, we found that Oli was saying that the party cadres are not speaking up for the party despite having such a huge party base. He was telling the party cadres to become united and defend the party. We found that PM Oli, in the viral clip, was actually underlining the fears of the party cadres.
Further, we searched for news articles to get the clear picture of what were the key things said by KP Oli at the event. We found an article, dated September 15, published on Himalayan Times online.
The article noted that PM Oli finally broke his silence over Mayor Shah and referred to him as a “boy, bizarrely enough, but everyone is loving him,” who should not be in charge of the metropolis. While speaking at a training programme in Kathmandu on Saturday, Oli said, “He [Balen] should not be allowed to take the lead. If his unchecked remarks gain traction, they may become accepted.”
Thus, our findings clearly indicate that Prime Minister Oli was telling his party cadres to become united as stand up for the party.
Conclusion
No, the viral clip doesn’t show Prime Minister Oli announcing his decision to not provoke Balen Shah. The viral clip actually shows him telling his party cadres to use the mobile phones in their hands to stand up for the party.
Result: False
Sources
Deshsanchar /YouTube, Sept 14, 2024
Yoho Television, Sept 14, 2024
Himalayan Times, Sept 15, 2024
Nepal News Bank /YouTube, Sept 14, 202
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Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
