Old Clip of Pappu Yadav Crying Falsely Linked to Bihar Bandh Protest

This clip dates back to 2018 and has been falsely linked to the Bihar Bandh

Fact-Check: This video is old from 2018 and not recent.

(Source: The Quint) 

A short video of Member of Parliament from Purnia in Bihar, Rajesh Ranjan, alias Pappu Yadav, crying in front of the press is being shared on social media platforms.

Those sharing have linked the video to the recent Bihar Bandh protest against the Election Commission's electoral roll revision ahead of assembly elections.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is the claim true?: The claim is false.

• The clip is from 2018 and shows Yadav crying following an alleged assault by protesters in Muzaffarpur.

What we found: We divided the video into multiple screenshots and ran a Google reverse image search on some of them.

• We came across a YouTube video uploaded by The Quint on 6 September 2018.

• According to the video description, Yadav became emotional while talking to reporters after allegedly being assaulted by demonstrators during a 'Bharat Bandh' (countrywide strike) on his way to the 'Nari Bachao Yatra' (Save Women March).

• This predates the recent Bihar Bandh protest of the opposition parties.

• According to a report from NDTV in 2018, a nationwide strike took place on 6 September 2018 to protest the amendments to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act made that year.

• Yadav told the media that he was ambushed and assaulted by a group of protesters in Muzaffarpur while heading to a women's safety walkathon.

• This report also featured the clip of Yadav in the car, crying, matching the visuals of the viral video.

• Amar Ujala covered the incident as well in 2018.

• In September 2018, 35 upper-caste groups organised a 'Bharat Bandh' in opposition to changes made to the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

• The Rajya Sabha approved a bill to overturn a Supreme Court decision that had eliminated the provision allowing for immediate arrest of individuals accused under the Act, mandating a preliminary investigation by police prior to arrest, reported India Today.

Conclusion: An old video of Yadav has gone viral and falsely linked to the Bihar Bandh protests.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818 , or e-mail it to us at [e-mail] and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)