Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman snaps at reporter during the post-Budget press conference in 2024.
Fact
Viral video is from 2023 post-Budget press conference.
Several social media users are sharing a video, claiming it shows Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman responding angrily to a journalist’s question during a press conference after she presented the Interim Budget 2024-2025 in the Lok Sabha on February 1, 2024.
“Nirmala Sitharaman held a press conference & a journalist asked a question about the budget. She went arrogant. Look at blood boiling expressions. A neutral media would ripped this govt apart into pieces for this,” read the claim.
The archived version of the tweets can be seen here and here.
No Change In Tax Slabs
The Interim Budget 2024 was reportedly focused on youth and women empowerment, while maintaining fiscal consolidation and continuing capex. FM Sitharaman lowered the FY25 fiscal deficit target to 5.1% of the GDP, while there were no changes made to the direct tax and indirect tax rate.
Fact Check
Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “Budget Nirmala Sitharaman snaps press conference”, where we did not find any credible news reports about such an outburst during this year’s budget presentation.
We noticed that the viral video was part of a news report from a media outlet, Brut, following which we ran a relevant keyword search, which led us to this Youtube video from Brut India, dated February 1, 2023, headlined, “This was FM’s reply when a journalist tried to convey the Opposition’s view on Budget”. Tweets sharing the same video can be seen here and here, confirming the clip is from last year’s budget.
We also came across this Hindustan Times report, dated February 1, 2023, on the whole exchange.
“Responding to a reporter’s question on opposition leaders’ criticism, the finance minister expressed utter disbelief and went: ‘Whaaat?’ The reporter had asked Sitharaman: ‘Opposition parties have been calling this ‘nil battey sannata’ (good for nothing) budget… they said [it is] not good enough. To this the finance minister pressed the reporter for specifics, asking for details about the opposition’s criticism. ‘For what reasons (are opposition parties saying this)… if I may know? An amused finance minister then quickly moved on from the question,’ read the report, which further confirms that the incident was from last year’s budget. A similar report can be seen here.
Also Read: Viral Video Of US President Joe Biden Announcing Military Conscription Is AI-Generated
Conclusion
Old video of Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman snapping at a journalist during a post-Budget press conference shared as recent.
Result: Missing Context
Source
Youtube video, Brut India, February 1, 2023
HT report, February 1, 2023
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
