Old video of villagers chasing TMC candidate resurfaces as new; Fact Check

A video of people chasing a candidate campaigning in elections in West Bengal is being shared on social media with a claim that read: “Sujata Khan, TMC candidate from Bishnupur, was threatening voters of Arambagh to vote for TMC or they will face consequences. Voters of Arambagh beat up Sujata Khan and other party workers and chased them away from there. Hindus of Bengal are fighting! (sic)”

Sujata Khan, TMC candidate from Bishnupur was threatening voters of Arambagh to vote for TMC or they will face consequences.

Voters of Arambagh beat up Sujata Khan and other party workers and chased them away from there.

Hindus of Bengal are fighting!! pic.twitter.com/wqfxCQy6ho

— Sunanda Roy 👑 (@SaffronSunanda) March 21, 2024

The claim says that the TMC candidate Sujatha Khan from Bishnupur, faced the wrath of villagers for allegedly threatening voters that the civic amenities would be stopped if they voted for BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

FACT-CHECK

Digiteye India debunked similar claims in the past related to elections. So, the team took it up for fact-checking and searching key frames of the video in Google Reverse Image Search. The results showed that the video was on old one from April 2021 when TMC candidate Sujata Mondal contested the elections. The news reports suggested that TMC’s candidate from Arambagh, Sujata Mondal, was allegedly assaulted by a group at Arandi’s booth number 263 during the state Assembly elections.

Here’s the full video aired on NDTV:

In current Lok Sabha elections, the TMC has fielded Sujata Mondal to fight against her former husband, BJP MP Soumitra Khan, in Bishnupur. But no such incidents have been reported so far. Hence, a three-year-old video has resufaced to claim that Sujata Khan (now Sujata Mondal) was chased away by villagers.

Claim: TMC candidate Sujata Khan from Bishnupur chased away by villagers while campaigning in 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Conclusion: The claim is false. The video was three years old from 2021 Assembly elections.

Rating: Misrepresentation —