Old video of an attack on Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar goes viral as recent

The video shows an attack on Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar during an election campaign in Delhi.

Assembly elections are going to be held soon in Bihar. In such a situation, all the parties are busy preparing for it. Meanwhile, a video of Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar has gone viral on social media. In the video, Kanhaiya Kumar is surrounded by a huge crowd of people. A man comes to him with a garland of flowers in his hand. As soon as Kanhaiya Kumar bends his head, the man suddenly slaps him while placing the garland. This leads to a brief scuffle. The users who share the video claims that it was a recent incident in Bihar. 

Let’s check the truth

Facebook Post| Archive link

Fact Check-

By performing a reverse image search with the key frames of the viral video led us to a extended version of the video on the official YouTube channel of Firstpost. The video was uploaded on 18 May, 2024. The caption states, “Congress Candidate Kanhaiya Kumar Slapped While Campaigning in Delhi”. The description part states, “Opposition Congress party candidate Kanhaiya Kumar was assaulted while campaigning in Delhi. A group of men approached him on the pretext of garlanding him and then slapped him. The attackers also threw blank ink at him. The alleged attackers claim they targeted him because of his past statements, including slogans on breaking up the country and criticism of the Indian Army”.

This indicates that the viral video is old and not from Bihar.

In further search we found several news reports regarding this incident. As per the Aaj Tak report published on 17 May 2024, 2 people had taken responsibility for this attack by releasing a video. They said that they did this because Kanhaiya Kumar insulted the country and the Indian Army. The North East DCP had ordered an investigation into this matter. The attackers were reportedly arrested by the police on 21 May 2024.

Based on these evidences, we can say that the viral video dates back to 2024, when Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar was attacked during an election campaign in Delhi.

Conclusion-

Fact Crescendo found that the claim made along with the viral video to be Misleading. This is an old video and shows an attack on Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar during an election campaign in Delhi in 2024.