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  • 2022-11-15 (xsd:date)
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  • Edited clip does not show BJP politician making jibe against his party -- it shows an opposition politician (en)
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  • An edited video of an Indian opposition politician has been viewed thousands of times in satirical posts that claim it actually shows a ruling Bharatiya Janata Party member. The posts -- which claimed a BJP politician naively suggested the father of a revered ancient Hindu king was a party worker -- attracted mocking comments online. In fact, the video has been clipped from a longer video that shows the Congress member commenting on a BJP leader's offensive remarks about the ancient king. The 14-second clip of a man speaking to a reporter in Hindi was posted here by the verified Facebook page for the youth wing of India’s opposition Congress party. It has been viewed more than 2,000 times since it was shared on November 4, 2022. Hindi-language text superimposed over the man pictured on the left-hand side of the video translates as BJP leader. A logo for Mewar News 86, a local news channel, can be seen in the video's top right-hand corner. In the clip, the man seen on the left-hand side can be heard saying: Maharana Pratap’s father was a BJP worker. Maharana Pratap was a Hindu king who ruled over the Rajput confederacy of Mewar, Rajasthan in western India during the late 1500s. A sarcastic Hindi caption with the post reads: Maharana Pratap’s father was a BJP worker! BJP hid such a historic thing from the country. The Bharatiya Janata Party -- currently led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- was formally founded in 1980, meaning Maharana's life predated it by several hundred years. Screenshot of Facebook post shared with false caption, taken on October 7, 2022 Comments from some users indicated they believed the video really shows a BJP politician. Be ashamed of yourself. The party did not even exist back then. Illiterate minister, commented one user. Another user wrote: Why do we get to see all the blind followers in one party? The clip has been viewed thousands of times here and here on Facebook; and here on Twitter alongside a similar claim. However, the claim is false. The man seen in the viral video is a Congress leader, not a BJP politician. Misidentified politician A keyword search on the YouTube channel of Mewar News 86 found a longer version of the same clip uploaded on December 29, 2021. The video's Hindi-language title translates as Maharana Pratap’s father was a BJP member – Congress leader CWC Raghuveer Meena. The man seen in the video - Raghuveer Singh Meena -- is a former Parliamentarian and a member of the Congress Working Committee , the top decision-making body of the Congress party. Below is a comparison of the video in the false posts (left) and a photo of Meena on the Congress party's official website (right): Comparison between a screenshot from the viral video (left) and Meena's picture availaible on the official website of Congress (right). The original video has been clipped from its one-minute 46-second mark to its one-minute-50-second mark. In the longer clip, the reporter says: We have with us CWC (Congress Working Committee) member Raghuveer Singh Meena. We will ask him why the Mewar BJP leadership, time and again, comments on Maharana Pratap and insults him. Responding to the reporter, Meena says that BJP leaders project Maharana Pratap in such a way as if his father was a BJP worker. Meena told AFP: My video is being edited and shared with false context. I have not made any such statement. Maharana Pratap is revered by us, he is worshipped in our place, but these people of the opposition are playing dirty politics. In Rajasthan, the ruling party Congress and the opposition BJP have been at war of words over Maharana Pratap. In April 2021, senior BJP leader Gulab Chand Kataria made headlines for allegedly making a controversial statement about the Hindu king, which Indian media outlet NDTV reported he later apologised for. In the original Mewar News 86 video, Meena can be seen referring to Kataria's remarks on Pratap. (en)
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