Congress leaders shared an old edited video a former Member of Parliament from their own party with a false claim that he is a BJP leader claiming that Maharana Pratap's father was part of the BJP.
Several social media users, including the former National President of the Indian Youth Congress, Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress made the false claim with the video, taking a jibe at BJP. Maharana Pratap was the king of Mewar from the Sisodia dynasty.
BOOM found that the viral video is edited and old, and the man seen in it is not a BJP leader but Congress Working Committee member and former MP Raghuveer Singh Meena. We further found that the video is edited and Meena was criticising and making fun of the BJP.
The 26 seconds video was shared by the official Facebook page of the Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress with the caption, "Maharana Pratap ji's father was a BJP worker! BJP has hidden such a big history from the country till now!"
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Former National President of Indian Youth Congress, Keshav Chand shared this video from his verified Twitter handle and Facebook page and wrote, "This is another example of BJP...Maharana Pratap's father was a BJP worker."
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Sharing the same video on Facebook and Twitter, many users claimed to be BJP leaders in the video and were seen taking a jibe at BJP.
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the man in the viral video is Congress leader Raghuveer Singh Meena which is from December 2021, and edited out of context to make the false claim that a BJP leader said that, "Maharana Pratap's father was a BJP worker".
The statement has been edited out of a longer video where Meena is criticising the BJP and saying that the BJP projects Maharana Pratap as if like his father was a BJP worker. This part has been edited out to make the false claim.
We first searched for the logo 'MEWAD NEWS 86' visible on the top right of the video on YouTube and found the original longer video that was uploaded on the same channel on December 29, 2021.
The description of the title of this 3 minute, 13 second video states that the person seen in the video is Congress leader and Congress Working Committee member Raghuveer Singh Meena
We watched the complete video and found that the reporter introduces him as CWC member Raghuveer Singh Meena in his intro. After this, the reporter questions the double character and double standards of BJP leaders on the remarks made by BJP leaders on Maharana Pratap, citing the example of Rajasthan BJP leaders Satish Poonia and Gulab Singh Kataria.
Responding to this question, Meena says, "All the leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party have a double character. There is a difference in their words and deeds. They sweet tlak but have a knife in the side."
Further, he targets Gulabchand Kataria for his remarks made on former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Maharana Pratap.
After this, Raghuveer Singh Meena questioned the 'temple-mosque' politics of BJP Rajasthan President Satish Poonia, saying over a time span of 1 minute 45 seconds, "They present Maharana Pratap like Maharana Pratap ji's father is a BJP worker. And their behavior is being seen by the public."
BOOM then reached out to former Congress MP and CWC member Raghuveer Singh Meena who stated that the viral video is fake.
Talking to BOOM, he said, "The BJP has been editing and running this video for 5-7 days. What can I say about Maharana Pratap! Tghe Maharana Pratap for whom we fought, our ancestors fought...These people from BJP have edited and made the video.
We then asked him to explain what he actually said and what he meant, "This is an old video. Gulab Kataria had said something about Maharana Pratap. People in the media had asked me, to which I said that these people (BJP) are behaving with such behavior as if Maharana Pratap's father was a BJP worker. The video of this was cut and made viral," explained Meena.
According to News18 's April 2021 report, senior BJP leader Gulabchand Kataria had made derogatory remarks about Maharana Pratap while addressing a public meeting.After this, the Rajput society expressed strong protest and resentment spread among the people in Mewar.
However, seeing the controversy escalating, Kataria released a video and apologized for his statement. Congress leader Raghuveer Singh Meena has been an MP from Udaipur seat of Rajasthan and is currently a member of the Congress Working Committee.