BJP Spokesperson Prashant Umrao Shares Edited Video Of SP Candidate Showing Offensive Speech Against Brahmins, Thakurs

In view of the UP elections, a 9-second long video of a Samajwadi Party leader from the Katra assembly seat, Shahjahanpur district, is becoming increasingly viral on social media. It is claimed with the viral video that Rajesh Yadav has said that the Thakurs and Brahmins will be beaten up if the SP government comes into power in the state. Casteist slurs were used for the Thakhurs and Pandits in this video.

BJP UP spokesperson, Prashant Umrao who have multiple times posted fake claims, shared the viral video with a Hindi caption that reads, "सपा प्रत्याशी राजेश यादव कह रहे हैं कि अखिलेश की सरकार आने पर ब्राह्मणों-ठाकुरों को दौड़ा-दौड़ाकर मारेंगे."

[English Translation: SP candidate Rajesh Yadav says that Brahmins and Thakurs will be beaten up if Akhilesh comes to power.]

Another user wrote, "ब्राह्मण , ठाकुरों को सड़क पर दौड़ा - दौड़ा कर मारेंगे ' सोचिए, अगर अखिलेश के ये गुंडे सत्ता में आ गए तो क्या करेंगे."

[English Translation: Brahmins and Thakurs will be beaten up on the road. Think what will happen if these goons of Akhilesh come to power?]

This video is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim.

Claim:

Samajwadi Party leader threatened Thakurs and Brahmins and said that they would be beaten up if the SP government comes into power.

Fact Check:

The Logical Indian fact check team verified the claim and found it to be fake. The viral video is edited.

While going through the comments on Prashant's tweet, we found that a Twitter user shared the longer version of the viral video. After watching the original video, it is clear that the viral video has been tampered with. In the longer version of the video, Rajesh can be heard saying, "Many people around Budhwana and Gadhiya Rangoli are very upset with the local goons. In this area, these small local goons have disturbed people of the area so much that people's lives have been ruined. We want to assure you that the day the Samajwadi Party government is formed, the people of the Samajwadi Party will chase these (goons) and will beat them on the streets. We want to say clearly that we have never committed hooliganism and will not tolerate hooliganism. We never called Kanchi as Kachheta, did not call Ahir as Ahirta, did not call Thakur as Thakurta, did not call Pandit as Pandita. Each one has their own individual respect."

In further investigation, we also found the tweet of Shahjahanpur police, in which they rubbished the viral claim. They wrote that the video is edited and shared with misleading claims. The case has also been registered at the Sadar Bazar police station.

On searching more, we found a report of Dainik Bhaskar dated 10 February 2022 related to the viral claim. According to the report, after the video went viral, Rajesh Yadav has lodged an FIR against unknown people in the police station Sadar Bazar.

Our investigation shows that the viral video of Rajesh Yadav speaking about chasing Brahman and Thakur and beating them up is edited. He was actually referring to the local goons who harassed the people of the Budhwana area, and he did not make any remarks on Thakurs and Pandits. Hence, the viral claim is false.

If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.

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