Fact-Check: Video of Mamata Banerjee Riding Scooter Shared With False Claim

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee rode an electric scooter in February 2021 to protest a hike in fuel prices.

The video dates back to 2021 when Banerjee was protesting a hike in fuel prices.

(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

A video of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee riding a two-wheeler amid heavy police presence is doing the rounds on social media.

The video, which shows Banerjee nearly falling off the scooter, is being shared to claim that she had barricaded roads to learn how to ride a scooter.

However, the claim is false. The video dates back to February 2021, when the West Bengal CM took out a rally, riding pillion on an electric scooter to protest against a hike in petrol prices. During the protest, Banerjee nearly fell off the vehicle while travelling from Kalighat to state secretariat Nabanna in West Bengal.

CLAIM

The video is being shared to claim that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blocked off a road to learn how to ride a scooter.

The claim was also shared by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's publication Organiser Weekly, which was viewed over 18,000 times at the time of writing this article.

An archive of this post can be accessed here.

Archives of more posts with the same claim on social media can be seen here, here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

Using relevant keywords, we looked for information and visuals of Banerjee riding a scooter.

The results led us to a report by Economic Times, dated 21 February 2021, which mentioned that Banerjee nearly fell off an electric scooter while protesting a hike in fuel prices.

The video in this report resembled the one in the viral claim.

Both visuals show three similarly dressed people surrounding Banerjee.

On comparing both stills, we saw that the pattern of the two-wheeler matched in both, and a person in a green shirt, wearing a red helmet was visible in both videos.

We also came across a video uploaded to Hindustan Times’ verified YouTube channel, that showed visuals of the chief minister addressing people before riding a two-wheeler amid police presence.

The Quint also carried a report on the protest, which noted that she was being driven by Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and former Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim from her residence in Kolkata’s Kalighat to the state secretariat in Howrah, instead of being driven in a car per usual.

You can watch our report here:

Clearly, the video doesn’t show West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee learning how to ride a two-wheeler on Kolkata’s streets.

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