Was the BJP leader attacked in Haryana? A fact check


Was the BJP leader attacked in Haryana?  A fact check

(Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

A video of a fight between a group of people is being shared on social media, claiming that a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was beaten up by the mob in Sirsa, Haryana.

Several users shared the video on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) making the same claim. Archived versions of such posts can be found here, here and here.

Screenshots of viral posts.  (Source: Facebook/X/Modified by Logical Facts)

Screenshots of viral posts. (Source: Facebook/X/Modified by Logical Facts)

However, this claim is false. The video shows a fight between two factions of the Indian National Congress (INC).

How do we get the truth?

On doing a reverse image search on the key frames of the viral video, we found a YouTube video (archive here) published by Hindi newspaper Punjab Kesari on 6 May 2024. According to the report, the viral clip is from Sirsa in Haryana, where supporters of two different factions within the Congress party clashed.

Several local news portals in Haryana also published the now viral video. A Facebook page called Ambala Breaking News (archived here) published the video on May 5, saying it showed supporters of Congress leader Sulja Kumari and former state chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at Samin village in Sirsa. There is a fight between where the elections are going to be held. May 25. Another portal called Ambala Mirror also published the video.

We reached out to Manjit Malhotra, a reporter at the news portal, who shared similar details with us and added, “Such conflicts between the two factions have been seen in the past, but not to this extent. This incident in Simin village. I happened to Sirsa.” In addition, we were also able to geolocate the video to Simin Village, Sirsa, Haryana. We also spoke to local resident Prashotham Dutt who confirmed that the fight took place in front of his shop.

Decision

A video of the infighting between two factions of the Haryana Congress was shared as a BJP leader was beaten up in Sirsa. The incident took place in Samin village of Sirsa and has nothing to do with BJP. Therefore, we have dismissed this claim as false.

(This story was originally published by Logically Facts, and was republished by NDTV as part of Shakti Collective.)

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