Viral video clip attributing election promises to Pradeep Gyawali is misleading

According to a video clip making the rounds on social media, Pradeep Gyawali, the deputy general secretary of the CPN-UML and candidate for MP from the Gulmi district, claimed that election pledges are made merely for the sake of making them.

Gyawali is heard saying the following in an interview that was broadcast on Prime Times Television on November 3, 2022:

“There is this song by Ram Krishna Dhakal. The lyric goes like this: I will sacrifice my life for you. I will do this and that for you. The refrain of the song, however, is that these are simply promises. What’s the point of campaigning if you don’t make promises to voters? Something must be said to the people.”

The journalist Rishi Dhamala, who runs a talk show on Prime Times TV, appears towards the end of the video.

On November 3, 2022, a TikTok user named ‘@oshipdigital’ posted the video clip with the caption, “These are only promises.” The 13-second video has been viewed more than 260,000 times and has been liked more than 14,000 times.

Twitter users have also shared the same viral video clip. On November 6, a Twitter user named ‘@chghimire’ with more than 18,000 followers posted the video clip with the caption: “The gentlemanly older brother says something must be said in the election. False information must be spread!!!” His tweet has been retweeted 51 times and viewed more than eight thousand times.

Fact-check 

To fact-check the claim, we first searched the original version of the viral video. Journalist Dhamala’s appearance at end of the clip left us with some clues. So we searched YouTube with the keywords: “Pradeep Gyawali Rishi Dhamala.” It led us to the original video. The interview with Gyawali was broadcast on November 3, 2022, on Prime Times Television. The interview lasts for forty minutes. 

In the interview, Gyawali said that his initiative has led to better infrastructure in the fields of health, drinking water, roads, tourism, among others, in his home district of Gulmi. Gyawali’s opponent, Chandra Bhandari of the Nepali Congress, was then quoted by the show’s host, Dhamala, to refute his assertion: “But, your adversary, Chandra Bhandari says no one has done as much effort as he did in Gulmi Constituency No. 1. He contributed to the construction of a great deal of infrastructure in the fields of irrigation, health, and education. He presented a list of these initiatives. What are your thoughts about it?”

Gyawali said in his response to Dhamala that not a single drinking water plant or inch of road in Gulmi was built when Bhandari was the constituency’s MP. However, Dhamala uses Bhandari’s words once again. The drinking water project in Gulmi was started during Sushil Koirala’s premiership, according to Bhandari.

Gyawali responds by saying:

These are just promises. There is this song by Ram Krishna Dhakal. The lyric goes like this: I will sacrifice my life for you. I will do this and that for you. But the song ends with a refrain: these are only promises. If you don’t make promises to people during the election, then what’s the point? Something must be said to the people. But the facts speak for themselves. Who released the budget [for the projects]? Who issued the tender? Who made the first move to start the projects?

pradeep gyawali

Contrary to what is implied in the popular video clip, Gyawali did not advocate for misleading voters during the election. In the interview, Gyawali used a well-known Nepali song to illustrate his point. Based on the video clip, however, social media users have circulated false information.

Claim	Claimed by	Nepal Check Verdict
Pradeep Gyawali, Deputy General Secretary of CPN UML and a candidate from Gulmi district, advocated making false promises to the people during the election.	Social media users	Misleading