“MLA of Raniya Haryana, who came to Panchkula to support Dera Pramukh, Haryana Police informed Army, Then Army did memorable Bhangra dance with BJP MLA: His name is Ram Chand Kamboj.” is the text of a video that is currently viral on social media and WhatsApp. This video has also been uploaded multiple times to YouTube as well with similar text.
This video has also been circulated by members of Indian National Congress. Here’s Ranjitpal Chinna who according his Twitter biography is the State General Secretary of Congress’s social media cell in Punjab is seen circulating the same video.
Firstly, Ram Chand Kamboj is not a BJP MLA. He belongs to Indian National Lok Dal which is the primary opposition party in Haryana and is the MLA from Rania constituency. Moreover, the video that is being circulated is many years old. This video has been available on YouTube for over six years. The video that is being shared on social media is a clipped portion of the following YouTube Video which was posted on April 24, 2011.
According to the description provided in the video above, it is Raja Chaturvedi of Samajwadi Party who was being roughed up by Uttar Pradesh Police on Feb 21, 2011 in front of UP assembly. While no contemporary news reports state that Raja Chaturvedi was beaten up, in a news report in Indian Express on Feb 23, 2011, Shivpal Singh Yadav alleges that multiple SP MLAs and workers were roughed up while protesting against Mayawati Government.
The Indian Express report states, “The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday alleged that the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party had unleashed goondas for forcible eviction of its MLAs from the state Assembly late Monday night when they were protesting against the abrupt adjournment of the House and passage of a bill paving the way for indirect election of mayors and presidents of various municipalities in the state.”
Based on the above news report, the description provided in the Youtube video seems genuine. Those who made this video viral clearly knew that this is an old video and yet they made it viral as part of political propaganda. In the past, many BJP members and supporters have been caught circulating fake videos. This time it is Congress who has taken the lead after the crisis in Haryana.
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