Video does not show crowd chasing BJP minister -- it has circulated in reports about another incident
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on February 25, 2022 at 07:23
- 3 min read
- By AFP India
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
The misleading claim was shared here on Facebook on February 4, 2022 and has been viewed nearly 6,000 times.
The Hindi-language caption translates to: "Uttar Pradesh’s power minister and BJP leader Shrikant Sharma being driven out by the locals of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. The minister had to run away, saving his life. We condemn such violent incidents in the state."
Shrikant Sharma is a power minister for the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
The posts circulated ahead of local elections in the state of 220 million people, which started on February 10, 2022 and will end a month later. Sharma's BJP is the incumbent party in Uttar Pradesh.
A similar video was shared on Facebook and Twitter here, here, here and here.
However, the claim is false.
A reverse image search on google found a video uploaded here by local news outlet Janta Press Jharkhand to its YouTube channel on January 31, 2022.
The Hindi-language title translates to: "Yesterday in Bokaro, former parliamentarian and BJP member Ravindra Ray’s car was attacked by locals."
The video's description says a crowd had charged at a car carrying BJP politician Ravindra Kumar Ray in Bokaro, a city in the eastern Jharkhand state; Ray later filed a police report.
Ray is also a former member of parliament.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading post (L) and the Jharkhand local news site's YouTube (R):
A similar video was shared on YouTube by another Jharkhand local media outlet News Ranchi on January 31, 2022.
Ray shared the same footage on his Facebook page on January 30, 2022 alongside a Hindi-language caption that translates in part as: "If my driver had not been smart enough then I am not sure I would have been able to share this video with you."
English-language newspaper The Times of India reported Ray had a "narrow escape" in Bokaro after protesters charged his vehicle. The demonstrators were demanding the removal of two regional languages from examinations for government staff selection in two of Jharkhand's districts, according to the report.
The incident was also reported by national Hindi newspapers Live Hindustan, Amar Ujala and Dainik Bhaskar on January 31, 2022.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us