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
Residents thrash a BJP leader in Tamil Nadu while he was campaigning.
Fact
Viral video dates back to October 2023, shows fight between two leaders of rival factions of a BJP district unit in Odisha.
Several social media users are sharing a video, claiming that it shows the residents of Tamil Nadu purportedly thrashing a BJP leader after pulling him down from his campaign vehicle during a roadshow. Some users have also tagged Tamil Nadu BJP chief, K Annamalai, while sharing the video, calling BJP the “worst political party”.
The archived versions of the tweets can be seen here and here.
Fact Check
Newschecker first noticed that the text overlaid onto the video, when translated from Bangla, did not mention anything about Tamil Nadu, raising our doubts.
We then ran a reverse image search of keyframes of the video, which led us to this Odisha Bytes report, dated October 9, 2023, featuring a clearer screengrab of the video. According to the report, two leaders of rival factions in BJP’s Balangir district unit in Odisha were engaged in a scuffle during a rally of the party’s state president Manmohan Samal.
A further search led us to a clearer version of the video, uploaded by Kalinga TV on Youtube on October 9, 2023, as part of a news report on the incident. “2 groups of BJP face off during rally in Odisha’s Balangir district,” read the headline, confirming that the viral video is not from Tamil Nadu. News reports on the scuffle can be seen here and here, confirming that the clash was between Odisha BJP leaders Gopalji Panigrahi and Ananta Das, following which a case was filed at the nearby police station SDPO Toofan Bagh and BJP leader Gopal Panigrahi to strengthen our investigation.
UPDATE ON 03/04/2024: This video had earlier gone viral, claiming to be a clash between BJP leaders in Madhya Pradhesh. Newschecker Hindi, in its fact-check report, dated October 31, 2023, spoke to the Balangir sub-divsional police officer Toofan Bag, who stated that the incident took place on October 9, 2023 in Balangir district, when local BJP leaders clashed during a rally. Newschecker also spoke to Panigrahi who stated that the incident happened in Odisha
Conclusion
Viral video shows fight between BJP leaders during a 2023 roadshow in Odisha, not the public thrashing a BJP leader during his campaign in Tamil Nadu.
Result: False
Sources
OdishaBytes report, October 9, 2023
Youtube video, Kalinga TV, October 9, 2023
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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.
