Fact Check: Video of AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal's statement on "One Nation, One Election" is not recent

Recently, a video of AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal discussing 'One Nation, One Election' concept has been circulating on social media.

The debate on simultaneous elections has gained traction following the Union Cabinet's approval of the 'One Nation, One Election' plan on September 18, 2024. This plan aims to conduct concurrent elections for both the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies. Media reports suggest that the Bill to facilitate this could be introduced during the winter session of Parliament.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that the simultaneous elections will be conducted in two phases. The first phase will cover Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, and the second phase will involve local body elections, held within 100 days of the first phase.

Ahead of this development, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticized the plan. On September 3, 2023, he posted on X: "INDIA, that is Bharat, is a Union of States. The idea of ‘one nation, one election’ is an attack on the Union and all its States."

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee also voiced her opposition, writing a letter to Dr. Nitin Chandra, where she argued that the idea of simultaneous elections undermines the federal structure of the country. She questioned the concept of "One Nation" in this context, stating, "While I understand 'One Nation' in a historical-political-cultural sense, I do not see its constitutional and structural relevance here. Does the Constitution support 'One Nation, One Government'? I believe it does not.

A video clip featuring AAP leader and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has surfaced on social media, with the caption: “One Nation-One Election के खिलाफ बोले Arvind Kejriwal.”

In the video, Kejriwal criticizes the 'One Nation, One Election' proposal, saying, "They come under control during elections." He suggests that the BJP wants to avoid working to win public favor before every election, preferring instead to hold all elections simultaneously, once every five years. "They'll hold them once in five years, and for the remaining four-and-a-half years, they will roam the world," Kejriwal says.

He further adds that instead of focusing on 'One Nation, One Election,' the government should prioritize 'One Nation, One Education.' He emphasizes, "The education that a rich person's child receives should be the same as the education my farmer and laborer friends' children receive."

We also found several Digital Media also shared the video with the Caption "देश को One Nation - One Election की नहीं बल्कि One Nation - One Education की ज़रूरत है - Arvind Kejriwal 

Fact Check:

A reverse image search led us to a video that was originally uploaded on AAP's official YouTube channel.

AAP uploaded the video with the title “Rewa, Madhya Pradesh में Arvind Kejriwal और Bhagwant Mann की दमदार जनसभा | AAP Madhya Pradesh. The video was uploaded on September 18, 2023 & it gained 437,294 views & 4.9K likes.

While observing the video on exact 57.34 min Timestamp we found the viral clip.

We found that on September 18, 2023, Quint Hindi uploaded the same video on their YouTube channel.

In the description Quint mentioned, “During the public address in Rewa, Arvind Kejriwal openly showered guarantees for the people of the state and fiercely attacked the BJP central government. He said that today we do not need 'One Nation One Election' but 'One Nation One Education'. At the same time, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that anger among the people has been increasing for the last 18 years”.

We found the clip of the viral video at the 4:08 minute timestamp.

This proves that Kejriwal made the statement in 2023.

When we searched the keyword, we found that ABP Live published an article related to it on September 18, 2023.

In the article, ABP mentioned: “Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday urged voters people to fully "uproot" Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming state assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and to give AAP one chance to govern. While addressing a gathering in the state’s Rewa district, he hit out at these national parties and said, “I challenge you, you will forget both of these parties.” He also hit out at the Centre and said that he opposed the concept of 'one nation, one election'. He also highlighted that the country needs 'one nation, one education (equal education for all) and 'one nation, one treatment' (rich or poor, equal treatment for all)”.

Hence, we found the claim to be misleading. The video of former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal discussing 'One Nation, One Election' is not recent; it dates back to September 2023.