Fact Check: Old video of BJP candidate Navneet Rana crying falsely linked to her 2024 election defeat

Hyderabad: A video showing BJP leader Navneet Rana being consoled while she is crying is circulating on social media. The accompanying claim suggests that the video shows her emotional breakdown after losing in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Rana was a BJP candidate from Amravati Lok Sabha constituency in eastern Maharashtra who lost the election to Congress’ Balwant Wankhede by 19,731 votes.

“Navneet Rana, who spewed venom from the stage, after losing,” wrote an X user who shared the video.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading as the video is from 2022.

We conducted specific keyword searches and found a video report by India Today, published on May 5, 2022, titled ‘Navneet Rana Breaks Down In Hospital After Bail, Shares Emotional Moment With Husband Ravi Rana.’ The video features the same footage of Rana sobbing while her husband, Ravi Rana, consoles her.

According to the channel, then Amravati MP Navneet Rana broke into tears after meeting her husband, MLA Ravi Rana, at Lilavati Hospital. The couple reunited emotionally after Navneet was released from Byculla Jail and Ravi was released from Taloja Jail, following 12 days of imprisonment.

CNN-News 18 published the video on May 5, 2022, titled ‘Rana Couple | MP Navneet Rana In Tears After Meeting Husband In Hospital.’ The channel reported that the couple met after securing bail.

According to a Hindustan Times report from May 6, 2023, the Rana couple were arrested on April 23, 2022, for threatening to recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside ‘Matoshree,’ the official residence of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in Kalanagar, Bandra East. They were released from prison after 12 days of incarceration.

Hence, we conclude that the video is from 2022 and does not show Navneet Rana crying after defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The claim is misleading.