Fact-check: Was Saayoni Ghosh running due to harassment by TMC workers?

A video of TMC candidate from Asansol Dakshin, Saayoni Ghosh, running during election campaigning in Burnpur is widespread on social media. It has been claimed that she was running after being harassed by TMC workers. OpIndia penned an article on the video citing ETV Bharat as the source.

Bengal: Actress Saayoni Ghosh, TMC candidate from Asansol, forced to run after being harassed by her own party membershttps://t.co/jT9qXE3xBR

— OpIndia.com (@OpIndia_com) March 22, 2021

Twitter account @BefttingFacts, infamous for promoting false and communally motivated claims, also shared Ghosh’s video.

She is Sayani Ghosh, TMC MLA Candidate who had picture of condom on Shivling. She is running after getting harassed by her own part workers. pic.twitter.com/UrGDA6kxgl

— Facts (@BefittingFacts) March 22, 2021

The account reshared Chayan Chateerjee’s tweet. He is the great-grandson of former Calcutta University vice-chancellor Ashutosh Mukherjee.

It is also circulating on Facebook.

False claim

Alt News spoke with Saayoni Ghosh on WhatsApp and was told, “My movement isn’t remote-controlled by people sitting in Delhi. I take care of my own campaign and decide for myself. BJP is losing plot hence engaging in fake and frivolous comments.”

Ghosh had herself uploaded the video of election campaigning in Burnpur on March 22. She can be seen running and meeting people from 2:40 onward in the video below.

There are in fact numerous videos of the TMC candidate running during campaigning. The one below is captioned, “My feet my will”.

Several media broadcasts have also covered her ‘running for election’ campaign in Asansol.

OpIndia referred to ETV Bharat’s report to assert that Ghosh was being harassed by party workers. However, the report carries no such claim. ETV Bharat said that she ran because she was agitated with party workers and supporters gathering close to her. It is to be noted, however, that Ghosh neither stated this to us or The Logical Indian (TLI) that had earlier published a report on the viral claim. “I am a young politician who wants to meet as many people in my constituency as I can. So I run to cover distances so that I can meet more people,” she has been quoted saying in TLI.

A false claim that TMC candidate and actor Saayoni Ghosh was running during election campaigning in Asansol after being harassed by party workers is circulating online.