Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari shared an edited video of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to misleadingly claim that he correctly attributed the iconic slogan “Give me blood and I shall give you freedom” to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and not Swami Vivekananda.
BOOM found the original speech where Adityanath was speaking at Joypur in Purulia on April 20, 2026. He first misattributed Bose’s slogan to Swami Vivekananda in what appears to be a slip of tongue, and later attributed it to Bose, during a campaign rally in West Bengal.
The UP CM’s gaffe stirred a political storm on X, with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) slamming it as BJP’s “shocking ignorance and contempt for Bengal’s history.” TMC MP Mahua Moitra took to her official handle to criticise Adityanath, asking him to “get his facts right,” while fellow MP Sagarika Ghosh also called out the UP CM for making such an error.
The Claim
In response to Sagarika Ghosh’s post on X, Bhandari shared the edited video with the false claim, "Fake news! This is the genuine video! Bengal has seen through this! Bengal will defeat this arrogance; appeasement; lawlessness; & misgovernance of "Tolamool" People of Bengal will reclaim Bengali Asmita from TMC." (sic)
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
What We Found: Yogi Adityanath's Slip Of Tongue
1. Adityanath’s Slip Of Tongue Trimmed Out From YouTube Livestream: We first checked Adityanath's livestream from his official YouTube channel on April 20, 2026, during his poll campaign in West Bengal’s Joypur constituency in Purulia but did not find any such remark. However, when we checked the livestreams on his other social media pages, including Facebook and X, we found the original speech where he makes the slip of tongue.
The original speech, where Yogi Adityanath can be heard misattributing Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s slogan to Swami Vivekananda, appears from around the 5-minute mark in the live broadcast on X from his verified handle. Click here for a downloaded version of the video.
2. Original Speech by UP CM: We listened to Adityanath’s speech, and it is clear that he did make an error. The transcription of his speech reads, "Sisters and brothers, when we talk about Bengal, remember that it is this very land of Bengal that gave us Swami Vivekananda. Swami Vivekananda had said, “Give me blood, and I will give you freedom”… sisters and brothers… this slogan of Netaji became a mantra for India’s independence. Swami Vivekananda is a gift of this very land."
From the speech, it is clear that Adityanath initially misattributed Bose’s famous slogan to Swami Vivekananda, and later correctly attributed it to Bose.
