“Ramzan me bijli ati hai toh Diwali me bhi ani chahiye, bhedbhav nahi hona chahiye (If electricity is there during Ramadan then it must be available during Diwali too, there shouldn’t be any discrimination),” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a rally in Fatehpur, ahead of the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

While the Samajwadi Party dubbed Modi’s speech an effort to polarise society, journalists jumped in to point out factual errors in the speech. According to official statistics quoted by Business Standard, 13,500 megawatts (MW) power was supplied on Eid-ul-Fitr (celebrated on July 6, 2016). The power supply on Diwali, between October 28 and November 1, 2016, was 15,400 MW per day—with 24-hour supply on all five days. Not only was there regular supply during Diwali, but the supply was greater than it was during Eid.

But the damage had been done, or so I came to believe after talking to residents of Sitapur district in Uttar Pradesh. The speech made a real impact on masses: a majority had come to believe that the Samajwadi Party worked only for a particular religion, while the BJP will work for the betterment of everyone. One of the residents told me, “Samajwadi (Party) works only for Yadavs and Muslims. No one gives an ear to problems of Hindus.”

Another said: “Only Modi works for Hindus. Mayawati worked only for Dalits and SP is working only for Muslims. The BJP is not able to function properly from the Centre because the state government does not let central schemes reach Hindus in UP. Because if Akhilesh lets them do their work, SP will not win the election.”

In the same period, the PM made other claims in his rallies. These included “ISI link in Kanpur derailment”, “Uttar Pradesh being number one in crime” and “maximum number of atrocities against Dalits in Uttar Pradesh”. All these claims were false and fact-checkers were quick to point that out.

But fact-check stories don’t reach the masses, unlike lies told in rallies. By the time the real facts reach people, opinions are already formed. Being a resident of Uttar Pradesh, I witnessed the mood of the state change within days of Modi’s rallies here.

Some would argue that this has always been the case with politicians. They lie, they sway the masses, they take their votes and vanish—only to return to lie some more when the next set of elections is around the corner.

The problem with this attitude is that politicians take us for granted. With no real consequences of propagating false claims, they can get away with anything. And if you ask why there isn’t a law against lying politicians, remember: elected politicians are lawmakers.

Why lie?

Our leaders lie for political gain. Obvious lies also make for great propaganda—false claims further an opponent’s negative image and earns the liar brownie points. For example, in October 2017, then Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said roads in his state are “better than those in the US”.

Sometimes when politicians try to defend themselves they tell some terrible lies, which becomes a laughing stock in the end. In March 2013, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the rising number of rape cases in the state was connected to increasing population.

Earlier in October 2012, she stated that rape cases are on a rise in the country because men and women interact with each other more freely now.

Speaking on farmer suicide, Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh listed “love affairs, dowry and impotency” as reasons for farmer suicides.

Our politicians also have a fair share in spreading fake news which fits their political agenda. On November 20, 2016, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal retweeted a tweet which stated that a man from Madhya Pradesh committed suicide in a bank because he could not withdraw cash for four days after demonetisation.

Kejriwal was quick to question PM Modi but media reports stated that the youth broke into the bank but allegedly committed suicide after local residents raised an alarm and gathered outside the bank to catch him.

What’s even scarier is the sense of power our politicians gain every time they get away with telling lies. Remember the time Modi told the public at a rally that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Vice President Hamid Ansari and former Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor had gathered at the Delhi residence of Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar to meet the Pakistani High Commissioner? Modi hinted towards a conspiracy. “What is the meaning of such a ‘secret meeting’ right before the Gujarat polls?” he said.

Yet the meeting was in no way a secret. General Deepak Kapoor also clarified that the Gujarat elections were not discussed at the gathering. The Congress was understandably upset and demanded an apology from Modi—which they never got. After the Gujarat elections, they were handed a clarification from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Rajya Sabha that Modi did not mean to question the commitment of Manmohan Singh and Hamid Ansari.

Forget about consequences, Modi didn’t even have to apologise. That is the sense of power right there.

But things have slowly started to change. This May, when Modi claimed at a rally that no Congress leader had met Bhagat Singh in jail, journalists were quick to clarify that this was false. Twitter also gave the prime minister a history lesson. Modi’s loyal followers may have believed him, but the Internet cracked down on the truth of his claim.

So what can the public do when politicians lie? For starters, question “facts” presented before you. Don’t believe everything you hear. This makes it easier for fact-checkers like Alt News, Social Media Hoax Slayer, Boom Fact Check, Quint Webqoof, The Lallantop Padtaal and others to reach a wider audience and keep things clean. Run a simple Google search to cross-check facts, or wait for fact-check sites to do it for you.

The road to hold politicians accountable for their lies is long and might seem unending. But once their lies stop gaining them points, they might eventually cease.

Note: The feature image has been updated.