Fact Check: Old video of TMC members attacking BJP rally shared as recent

Hyderabad: West Bengal is gearing up for the highly anticipated 2024 Lok Sabha elections, set across seven phases from April 19 to June 1, with results expected on June 4. The major players include the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and a coalition of the Left Front and Indian National Congress.

Against this backdrop, a video purportedly showing a group of men clashing with Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) members is being widely shared on social media. Users claim that it is a recent video. Users say it shows how democracy is being trampled in West Bengal under the TMC government.

Similar posts can be seen here and here.

The same video is also being shared with the claim 'People campaigning for BJP in Gujarat's Dwarka have been beaten up by the general public'.

Sharing the video, users have asked, ‘Election campaigning in Kolkata. Still, you think people will vote freely & there will be a fair election???’

Fact Check

NewsMeter found the claim to be false as the viral video is old and unrelated to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

We initiated our investigation through a keyword search, which led us to an NDTV report titled `Trinamool MLA Accused of Harassment by BJP Supporters, He Denies Charges’ published on August 5, 2022. According to the report, Asit Majumdar, a three-time MLA representing the area, denied the allegations, claiming he confronted BJP workers who were making baseless accusations against the TMC.

We came across a similar report on TV9 Bharatvarsh featuring stills from a viral video dated August 5, 2022. The incident reportedly occurred in Khadinamore, Chinsurah, in the Hooghly district of West Bengal, where Trinamool MLA workers and BJP workers engaged in a clash.

Moving forward, we found the viral video reported by News18 on their official X handle dated August 6, 2022. The tweet reads, "Street battle in Hooghly, West Bengal, clashes between BJP-TMC workers."

Not only this, we also spotted the viral video uploaded on the YouTube channel of Times Now titled 'West Bengal: Clash Raged Between TMC And BJP Workers, TMC Alleges BJP Blocked Convoy' published on August 6, 2022.

The description of the video said, “'West Bengal: Dramatic images are streaming in from the Hoogly District. When TMC and BJP members encountered each other in the Hooghly district of West Bengal, Asit Mazumdar said that he was driving home from Kolkata when his car was allegedly stopped by BJP supporters and attacked. In the meantime, the BJP is asserting that when they were holding a rally, Asit Mazumdar proceeded to assault them without warning. "They were standing Committee. There was a meeting and I was returning. There was a huge jam around 25-30 people were there. Everyone is a thief in the TMC party. I reached Deepa's store and turned and took the vehicle forward and they attacked me for that", Says MLA on the clash between TMC and BJP Workers. Tune in for more such updates and news.”

Lastly, we found the same visuals uploaded as a video story on ABP Ananda( Bengali stream of ABP).

Hence, it is evident that the viral video of the BJP-TMC spat is old and unrelated to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.