No, this is not TMC MP Nusrat Jahan performing Dhunuchi dance on Durga Puja

Two videos of women performing the traditional Dhunuchi dance associated with Durga Puja in West Bengal has been shared with the claim that they show TMC MP Nusrat Jahan.

Video 1

BJP MP Paresh Rawal quote-tweeted a tweet where a person shared a video of Dhunuchi dance performance claiming that it shows Jahan dancing. Rawal wrote, “#nusratjahan ji ma’am lots of respect and more and more power to you! This country needs more and more people like you on BOTH THE SIDES!”

#nusratjahan ji ma’am lots of respect and more and more power to you ! This country needs more and more people like you on BOTH THE SIDES ! Jai Hind. https://t.co/W1uybYx89L

— Paresh Rawal (@SirPareshRawal) October 16, 2019

The same video was shared by an individual user on Facebook, Sandeep Yadav, and attracted 1.8 million views. The accompanying message read, “अद्भुत, सांसद नुसरत जहां. (Wonderful, MP Nusrat Jahan.)”

The video has been massively shared on both Twitter and Facebook.

Fact-check

This video, however, shows a woman named Rashmi Mishra who performed the dance in Powai, Mumbai. A YouTube search with the keywords ‘Dhunuchi dance’ led us to the same video uploaded by several users. One of the users titled the video as ‘Rashmi Mishra in PBWA, Mumbai.’

PBWA stands for Powai Bengali Welfare Association. The original video was uploaded by the organisation’s Facebook page which described it as, “A glimpse of Dhunuchi nach competition performance on Saptami day at Times Powai Sarvajanin Durgotsav ( organized by Powai Bengali Welfare Association, Mumbai). A super performance by Rashmi Mishra.”

Video 2

Another video of a woman performing the traditional Bengali dance was shared on social media with the claim that she is TMC MP Nusrat Jahan. A user Vinod Sharma (@vinodsharma1834) who is followed by the office of railway minister Piyush Goyal was among those who posted the clip. His tweet drew 1,600 likes at the time of writing.

नुसरत जहाँ का दुर्गा पूजा नृत्य ,,
जिससे मुल्लाओं के पिछवाड़े मिर्ची लग गयी थी और इस्लाम खतरे में पड़ गया था,,,
अत्यंत सुन्दर ,,यही खूबसूरती है इस संस्कृति की,,,,,कहाँ काले बुर्के की क़ैद और कहाँ गुलाल से उड़ते अल्हड आज़ाद रंग….😊 pic.twitter.com/66YJWAeFnS

— Vinod Sharma #HTL 🕉️ (@vinodsharma1834) October 12, 2019

“नुसरत जहाँ का दुर्गा पूजा नृत्य ,, जिससे मुल्लाओं के पिछवाड़े मिर्ची लग गयी थी और इस्लाम खतरे में पड़ गया था,,, अत्यंत सुन्दर ,,यही खूबसूरती है इस संस्कृति की,,,,,कहाँ काले बुर्के की क़ैद और कहाँ गुलाल से उड़ते अल्हड आज़ाद रंग. (Nusrat Jahan’s Durga Puja dance which irked Mullas and put Islam in danger. Very beautiful. This is the charm of our culture. Colours have freedom when certain women are caged in black burqas.)” – wrote Sharma.

The same clip has also been circulated on Facebook.

Fact-check

This video, however, does not show Jahan but Bengali actor Ritabhari Chakraborty. The actor had shared photographs of the Durga Puja event where she can be seen dressed identically,

Chakraborty can also be spotted in a video shared by a Youtuber about Durga Puja in South Kolkata. This video was uploaded on October 6.

Video clips of women performing the traditional dance associated with Durga Puja were shared on social as TMC MP Nusrat Jahan dancing.