Fact Check: UGC protestors vandalise BJP office in Maharashtra? No, here’s the truth

A video of a brawl in front of a BJP office is going viral on social media with claims that it shows the UGC protestors destroying and vandalising the party office.

By -  K Sherly Sharon |
Published on : 1 Feb 2026 10:10 AM IST
Fact Check: UGC protestors vandalise BJP office in Maharashtra? No, here’s the truth
Claim:Video shows UGC protesters destroying and vandalising BJP office.
Fact:The claim is false. The video shows clashes between the BJP and the KVA party supporters on January 18 in Maharashtra.
Hyderabad: A video purportedly showing a group of people attempting to vandalise an establishment bearing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) logos and engaging in a brawl is circulating on social media. The claim accompanying the viral video alleges that the footage shows people in Maharashtra dragging BJP workers out of their offices and homes and assaulting them. It portrays the incident as an act of retaliation against BJP members for opposing the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) regulations.

The video was shared on X with the claim, “ATTN: Finally, the day has come when people are dragging BJP members out of their offices and homes and beating them... See how BJP workers are being treated in Maharashtra for opposing the #UGCRegulations law. The cup of sin was bound to overflow someday, and this was inevitable…” (Translated from Hindi) (Archive)

A January 13 notification issued by the UGC on preventing caste-based discrimination in higher education triggered widespread controversy and protests. While one group opposed the regulations, arguing that they promoted caste divisions and discriminated against “general category” students, others welcomed them as a long-overdue measure to address entrenched discrimination faced by historically marginalised communities on university campuses. On January 29, the Supreme Court stayed the implementation of the regulations, with some observations by the bench seen as favouring the critics of the rules. The stay, in turn, sparked protests and criticism from groups that supported the regulations and called for their continuation and strengthening.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The video shows the clashes between the supporters of the BJP and KVA parties in Maharashtra's Bhiwandi on January 18, at the office of the BJP MLA Mahesh Choughule.

Using reverse search of the viral video key frames we found an X post shared on January 20. The post contained three videos stacked vertically. The video in the middle is the same as the viral video. The text on the video reads, “Deshonnati…Bhiwandi…The atmosphere in Bhiwandi, Mumbai has heated up following political violence; an alleged life-threatening attack on a former mayor, police resort to lathi charge”. (Translated from Marathi)

The post was shared on X with the caption, “BJP candidate lost in Bhiwandi election
Hindutva g00ns are attacking winning candidate’s home and creating ri0t like situation on streets.”

Through this lead we performed keyword searches and found a Hindustan Times report published on January 19. The report contained a screenshot from the viral video as the cover image. The title of the report reads, “Clash breaks out between supporters of BJP MLA and ex-mayor”

According to the report, a violent clash broke out between supporters of the BJP MLA from Bhiwandi, Mahesh Choughule, and former Bhiwandi Mayor, Vilas Patil, president of the Konark Vikas Aghadi (KVA) party, on the evening of January 18. The report further added that some supporters of Patil allegedly stormed into the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk office of the BJP MLA and assaulted activists.

The Pune Mirror shared the viral video on Instagram, while Republic World published a report using screenshots from the footage. Navbharat Times also carried a report featuring a brief snippet of the same video. All these reports corroborated the information published by the Hindustan Times.

On January 19, The India TV published a report with the title, “Clash breaks out between supporters of BJP and KVA in Bhiwandi after corporation poll results”. The report quotes the DCP Zone 2 Shashikant Borate saying, "A clash occurred between supporters of two leaders. The workers were dispersed by the police, and the situation is currently under control".

The report also quotes BJP MLA Mahesh Choughule acknowledging the involvement of KVA president Vilas Patil in the clash. Notably, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election results were announced on January 16. In the Bhiwandi–Nizampur civic body, the BJP won 22 seats, while the Congress secured 30 seats. Shiv Sena and the NCP–Sharad Pawar faction won 12 seats each.

NDTV also published a report on the incident where the entire viral video can be seen. The report states that both parties have accused each other of vandalism, which includes damage to the BJP MLA's office.

Therefore, it is clear that the viral video shows clashes between supporters of the BJP and the KVA on January 18, following the announcement of the BMC election results. The incident occurred at the office of BJP MLA Mahesh Choughule, located near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra. NewsMeter concludes that the viral claims are false.
Claimed By:Social Media Users
Claim Reviewed By:NewsMeter
Claim Source:Social Media
Claim Fact Check:False
Fact:The claim is false. The video shows clashes between the BJP and the KVA party supporters on January 18 in Maharashtra.
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