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
BJP leaders thrashing each other over the party’s distribution of tickets for the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly polls.
Fact
Video dates back to March 2019, when 2 BJP lawmakers in UP came to blows during an official meeting.
Several social media users are circulating a video, claiming that it shows BJP leaders thrashing each other with shoes over the distribution of tickets for the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly elections. The elections to the 200-member assembly will be held on November 25 in a single phase and results will be out on December 3.
The archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
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Fact Check
Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “Rajasthan BJP members fight elections”, which did not throw up any specific news reports of such an incident, but led us to reports about the unease and protests among some party members after BJP announced its first list of candidates.
Newschecker then ran a reverse image search of keyframes of the video, which led us to this Hindi news report from Patrika News, dated March 6, 2019, stating that there was a fierce fight between BJP MP Sharad Tripathi and MLA Rakesh Baghel in Sant Kabir Nagar, which is a district in UP, following which the then party state president Dr Mahendranath Pandey summoned both leaders.
Taking a cue from this, we ran a relevant keyword search, which led us to multiple news reports about the scuffle, sharing clearer videos of the incident from different angles.
“BJP Lok Sabha MP from Sant Kabir Nagar Sharad Tripathi and party MLA from Mehdawal Rakesh Singh Baghel engaged in a fight during an official meeting in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. The video has gone viral on social media where Tripathi can be seen hitting Baghel with his shoe. The argument broke over the placement of names on a foundation stone of a project. Baghel hit back landing a few punches at the Lok Sabha MP before security personnel intervened and separated the two,” read an HT report, dated March 6, 2019.
“The fight broke out after a fuming BJP Member of Parliament Sharad Tripathi, who represents the district, asked why his name was not included on the foundation stone for a local road. Rakesh Baghel, one of the MLAs from the district, said it was his decision,” read an NDTV report about the incident, dated March 6, 2019, adding that the meeting was a District Coordination Meeting, where top public officials convene to review development projects and other work in the area. Similar reports can be seen here and here, confirming that the viral video is of the 2019 incident.
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Conclusion
An old video of BJP leaders thrashing each other during a district meeting in Uttar Pradesh in March 2019 passed off an incident that happened ahead of the 2023 Rajasthan Assembly elections.
Result: False
Sources
Patrika news report, March 6, 2019
HT news report, March 6, 2019
NDTV report, March 6, 2019
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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.
