CLAIM
A video purportedly of a Congress MLA praising the Modi government for demonetisation and the surgical strike has gone viral on social media. (“कांग्रेसी विधायक राकेश मेघवाल मोदी जी की तारीफ कर रहा था तो उसका माइक छीनने लगे कांग्रेसी” Congress MLA Rakesh Meghwal was praising Modiji then Congressmen started snatching the microphone - translated) A Facebook page Rohit Sardana Fans Club has shared the same video with the aforementioned text. At the time of writing this article, it has been shared more than 6,200 times.
Several other Facebook fan pages have shared this video with the identical narrative including Rubika Liyaquat Fans club, Sudhir Chaudhary Live, Prof. Rakesh Sinha Fans club and आम आमदनी पार्टी.
In the video, two people can be seen snatching the microphone and stopping the speaker from praising demonetisation. Many social media users have shared this same claim.
TRUE OR FALSE?
A Google search of Rakesh Meghwal showed several news reports on the incident which had taken place in 2016. According to a report, Rakesh Meghwal is a former BJP MLA who was speaking at an event organised by the Bahujan Sangarsh Dal in Nagaur district. Speaking to media, he said that he was invited as a community leader in the gathering. It also must be noted that he was associated with BJP when he made the statement in November 2016.
SAME VIDEO, DIFFERENT NARRATIVE
In November 2016, Rishi Bagree, who is followed by PM Modi on Twitter, claimed that BSP supremo Mayawati had asked her party workers to snatch the mic from a party leader eulogising the prime minister. It had garnered close to 5,400 retweets and 4,000 likes. Notably, it was also retweeted by Madhur Bhandarkar with a comment, “good one”.
Bagree has got all the possible facts in his tweet wrong. Firstly, it was a event organised by the Bahujan Sangarsh Dal, and NOT Bahujan Samaj Party. Secondly, no media reports suggest that BSP chief Mayawati was present at the spot. Thirdly, the man in video is a former BJP MLA and NOT a BSP leader.
According to a Facebook post by Rakesh Meghwal, he has now filed his nomination as an independent candidate from Parbatsar constituency in the upcoming Rajasthan assembly elections.
In this instance, a video of a political leader previously affiliated with the BJP was passed of as a leader of the Congress party going against the party line. Propaganda is on full swing on social media with elections around the corner in five states.
(Published in an arrangement with Alt News)
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