Video Doesn't Show Women Demanding 'Promised Money' Outside Congress MP's Office

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A video showing Congress MP Kumari Selja holding a press conference while several people cause a ruckus outside the room, leading to shattering of a glass door is going viral online.

  • The claim states that it shows local woman protesting and demanding Rs 8,500 which was 'promised' by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi under the Mahalakshmi Scheme.

  • Several users shared this claim including X (formerly Twitter) user '@MrSinha_' who has been flagged several times in the past for sharing mis/disinformation.

An archive of this post can be seen here.

(Archives of other posts sharing the same claim can be seen here and here.)

What's the truth?: This video is going viral with a false claim.

  • The video is from a press conference held on 13 June that was following Selja's victory in Sirsa constituency in Haryana.

  • It actually shows supporters of another Congress leader, Paramvir Singh, reportedly causing a ruckus outside the room demanding his involvement in the ongoing press conference.

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How did we find out the truth?: We noticed the logo of 'My City News' on the viral video and searched for their social media accounts.

  • We found their account on Facebook and the viral video was shared on 13 June 2024.

  • The video matched with the viral one and the caption stated in Hindi that the video shows Congress leaders, including Selja, having a press conference inside her office in Fatehpur, Haryana.

  • It adds that another Congress leader and former minister Paramvir Singh was left outside the room and excluded from the press conference (the reason is unknown).

  • This agitated Singh's supporters, who started causing a ruckus outside the room and in this process, a glass door was shattered.

  • It also adds that the room's door wasn't opening and the breakage caused them to open, as explained by Singh after entering the room.

  • An archive of this post can be seen here.

    • Further, we conducted a relevant keyword search using 'Selja Kumari press conference Singh breaks glass' on Google and this led us to several reports by ETV Bharat, Hindustan Times, Zee News, and Tribune.

    • These reports also stated that when Selja started the conference, Singh and his supporters began banging and pushing the door, causing a disturbance while Selja had asked them to stop the disturbance.

  • This led to breaking of a glass panel of the door, following which Singh entered the room and complained that the door had been locked, but Selja insisted it was not the case.

  • The videos does not show the leaders even mentioning the Mahalaxmi Scheme.

  • We have also reached out to Selja's office and the story will be updated when we get a response.

    Conclusion: An unrelated video is being shared to falsely claim that women were demanding Congress MP Kumari Selja ₹8,500 under the Mahalakshmi scheme.

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