After India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suffered a shocking electoral setback, a video of politician Navneet Rana crying appeared in social media posts that falsely claimed it showed her reaction to losing her seat. However, the video was filmed years before the election and shows Rana’s husband comforting her after she was admitted to hospital.
“Arrogance turned to tears in Amravati,” read a Facebook post that shared the video on June 5, referring to Rana’s seat in Maharashtra, which she lost in the recently concluded elections.
The BJP was forced to form a coalition government after a setback in the polls left the party without an absolute majority for the first time in a decade (archived link).
The main opposition party, Congress, won 99 seats in a remarkable turnaround, almost doubling its 2019 figure.
“Navneet Rana, who spoke about sending Indian Muslims to Pakistan, was sent away by the public,” the Facebook post added. “Look at her situation after the defeat.”
The post appeared to refer to comments Rana stated at an election rally in May that those who did not want to say a Hindu slogan should “go to Pakistan” (archived link).
Days later, a case was registered against her for a controversial comment she made at another rally (Image: Reproduction)archived link).
The video was shared in similar posts on Facebook and X, formerly Twitter, here It is here.
Hospital video
A reverse image search on Google found the video posted on X on May 5, 2022 by Indian media outlet News18 (archived link).
“Imprisoned Maharashtra MP Navneet Rana broke down upon meeting her husband in hospital,” reads the text superimposed on the video.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video shared in fake posts (left) and the News 18 video (right):
In April 2022, Mumbai Police stuck Rana and her husband, also a politician, responding to the call to recite a Hindu hymn outside a politician’s residence (Image: Reproduction)archived link).
Rana was later taken to hospital after falling ill while in prison.
The video was widely shared by Indian media outlets at the time. here, here It is here (archived links here, here It is here).
