A series of old viral videos have made a comeback on social media after poll results were declared in the three northern states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The latest misinformation going viral on Facebook shows a video claiming the love of the voters for BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan despite the party being ousted in Madhya Pradesh.
The video, which shows Madhya Pradesh's former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan blowing a flying kiss and responding to someone's 'I love you' at a public rally, has a message in Hindi which loosely translates to "Ousted him from power... but how will you oust him from the hearts" (सत्ता से तो निकाल दिया..दिल से कैसे निकालोगे!! )
The archived version of the Facebook post can be accessed here.
The video, that was posted on Facebook page Politics Solitics on December 13, has been shared over 500 times now. The BJP leader and former chief minister can be seen here interacting with the public when someone from the crowd screams, "Mamaji, I love you." Chouhan then looks at the crowd, smiles, and says: "I love you too." He also blows a flying kiss towards the person concerned.
Story behind the video
A cursory glance at the video may make it look like it has been shot at a rally. However, we have found that the video is over a year old, and had been covered in newspaper reports. You can read some of the reports here and here.
Going by the media reports, the video was reportedly shot at a rally in Mungawali village in Madhya Pradesh on October 17, 2017. The video, which was then shared widely online, had left the internet, specially twitter, in splits.
Check the tweets related to Shivraj Singh Chouhan's flying kiss.
MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan blows a kiss to some man yelling "mamaji, I love you". pic.twitter.com/gaweqqB4Mo
— Mahim Pratap Singh (@mayhempsingh) October 31, 2017
Chouhan had also mentioned this incident in a speech at his Aashirwad Yatra as part of his election campaign. He could be heard crediting his reaction to his love for the youth of Madhya Pradesh. You can watch the video below.