False 'cricket accident' posts target newly elected Rajasthan chief minister in India

This article is more than one year old.
Published on January 11, 2024 at 08:06
3 min read
By Devesh MISHRA, AFP India

After India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wrested control of Rajasthan from the opposition in December's state assembly vote, social media posts began sharing a video they falsely claim shows the state's newly elected chief minister falling on a cricket pitch while attempting to bat. But the same clip has actually been featured in multiple news reports covering an incident involving another politician -- not Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma.

"This will be recorded in World Cup History! Amazing shot of Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal ji," reads the Hindi-language caption of the video shared here on Facebook on December 28, 2023.

Sharma was named Rajasthan chief minister after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist BJP routed the main opposition in key heartland states, months before national polls in the world's most populous country.

The 12-second clip, which has been viewed more than 100 times, shows a man falling over during a cricket game.

Screenshot of the false post, taken on January 8, 2024

The video has also been shared with a similar false claim on Facebook here and here.

Comments under these posts indicate social media users believed the claim.

One user wrote: "Bhajan Lal Sharma ji, you still have to run the government for 5 years, you fell as soon as you came."

"Sharma ji, this is not a political pitch but the real one," another said.

However, there have been no credible news reports indicating Sharma was recently injured while playing cricket.

The video in the posts actually appears in multiple news reports that say it shows an incident involving a politician from the eastern Indian state of Odisha.

Mistaken identity

A keyword search on Google found the same video was uploaded on the verified YouTube channel of Kanak News, a local media organisation in Odisha, on December 25, 2023 (archived link).

The headline of the video reads: "BJD MLA Bhupinder Singh Injured While Testing Own Cricketing Skill in Narla."

In the video, the voiceover says the 72-year-old Singh, leader of the regional BJD party ruling in Odisha, suffered a serious head injury when he fell over and was hospitalised.

The Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) was reportedly attending a sports competition in Kalahandi when he had the accident.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false posts (left) and the video from the Kanak News report (right):

Screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and the YouTube video from Kanak News (right)

Other news outlets also reported on the original incident, publishing the video here, here and here (archived links here, here and here).

In this report by local media organisation Focus Plus Odisha, Singh says: "It was a natural accident and I am fine now. As soon as I tried to hit the ball, my leg faltered and due to loss of balance, I fell" (archived link).

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