New Delhi: Ahead of the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections, a clip of a man distributing alcohol at a rally has gone viral on social media, with several politicians claiming that the video is from the poll-bound state.
The man, in the viral footage, can be seen wearing a cap and scarf with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) logo on it.
The video was initially shared by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) social media convenor M. Krishank on his Twitter handle Wednesday.
Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the TRS leader wrote “Modi ji’s Dry Gujarat” along with the thirty-eight seconds video footage on his post.
Modi ji's Dry Gujarat 😀 pic.twitter.com/BpQkVL1wrb
— krishanKTRS (@krishanKTRS) November 16, 2022
The video has so far garnered over 1 lakh views and more than 700 retweets on the social media platform.
DMK’s IT wing secretary and MLA Thalikottai Rasu Baalu Rajaa and TRS UK cell spokesperson Ravi Pulusu were among the several verified handles who shared the video.
While sharing the video, Isai Dhatchinamurthy, DMK IT wing state deputy secretary, sarcastically commented what the people should watch as Gujarat was “drowning in water”.
பைத்தியம்.. குஜராத் தண்ணில மிதந்தா நாங்க ஏன் லவ்டுடே பாக்க கூடாது?!🤣 https://t.co/ZRFIgatqQ9 pic.twitter.com/VpjafBQVkR
— இசை (@isai_) November 16, 2022
Highlighting the alleged Delhi excise policy case, a Twitter user named Amit Kumar questioned if anyone could answer about the ‘scam’ happening in Gujarat for the past 8 to 10 years.
Dilli ka liquor scam boltein hain 9k cr – 1 saal mein
Ye jo 8-10 saalon se gujarat mein scam chal raha hai wo kitna bada hai koi batayega ?! pic.twitter.com/84vdRiX8Ph
— Amit Kumar (@msgingamit) November 16, 2022
Fact check:
The viral clip of the alleged BJP worker distributing liquor is not from the recent past since Dainik Bhaskar, a Hindi daily, had done a story on this particular footage in December 2021. The publication, however, could not verify the authenticity of the video.
In December last year, the UP Congress had shared the same footage on its Twitter handle and accused the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government of distributing alcohol in Uttar Pradesh.
दारू+ UP+ योगी= दुरूपयोगी
Painkiller बंट रही है @narendramodi जी.
सब ठीक? pic.twitter.com/HhsfaLtkYi
— UP Congress (@INCUttarPradesh) December 20, 2021
There were also several Twitter users who flagged that the video was “fake” and alerted the Gujarat Police to take strict action against the TRS leader for spreading misinformation.
Fake news alert ‼️‼️‼️ @GujaratPoliceGP @sanghaviharsh sir plz take strict action again this fake news spreader. https://t.co/UinP6SMMT5
— NaMo Army (@OnlyNaMoNaMo) November 16, 2022
Fake news alert. This video is of Telangana. @sanghaviharsh bhai pls take appropriate action https://t.co/65ZTmmmIdJ
— Shashi Kumar (@iShashiShekhar) November 16, 2022
However, this is not the first time the footage has surfaced on social media with a false claim. Earlier in July, the same video was shared on Twitter with many users claiming that it was from Telangana.
A. Venkata Ramana, BJP in-charge of Telangana State Information & Technology Department, slammed the TRS leader and shared two screenshots for proof on his handle, claiming that the location of the video was neither from Gujarat nor Telangana.
!!Fake News!!
Update your Bio as "TRS Fake news media Convenor"
Here is a fact check of this old video by Factly which is associated with your TRS govt. https://t.co/yvG0kybWOH pic.twitter.com/knbpEXRdbc
— A.Venkata Ramana (AVR) (@AerpulaVenkata) November 16, 2022
(In collaboration with SM Hoaxslayer)
Also read: Fake photo showing all modes of transport in 1 frame is from Andhra, not BJP-ruled UP