No, video doesn’t show Shivraj Singh Chouhan insulting Dalit man

A video showing a man kicking an elderly man's turban is being circulated on social media with a claim that it shows Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan insulting a Dalit man. The post had more than 8,400 views at the time of writing this story. The archive version of the post can be found here. 

The claim has surfaced ahead of the Assembly elections in the central Indian state scheduled to be held on November 17.

Screenshot of the video circulating online. (Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the video is from 2021 and the person was identified as Rajasthan MLA Rajendra Singh Bidhuri.

What we found

The date stamp mentioned on the viral clip reads “2021-10-21 13:35:09.”

Screenshot of a viral video where it has a timestamp on it. (Source: X/Screenshot)

We then conducted a reverse image search on the video keyframes and found a report by News18 Rajasthan from October 17. The viral clip can be seen at 0:09 seconds into the video. It was titled “Rajasthan News: MLA Rajendra Singh Bidhuri ने किसकी पगड़ी को मारी लात? Rajasthan Election 2023.” (Translation: Whose turban did MLA Rajendra Singh Bidhuri kick?)

The report adds that the video is nearly two years old and it allegedly shows Bidhuri assaulting a man who had come to seek his help for his son’s job. The report also carries a short interview with Lobi Ram Gurjar, who has been identified as the victim. The Gurjar community is listed as one of the backward classes in Rajasthan. 

Screenshot of News18 Rajasthan YouTube video. (Source:YouTube/Screenshot)

However, Bidhuri denied the allegations and claimed the video was edited, according to a report in The Indian Express. The daily quoted him saying, “It is a video from 2021 and is edited. I did not behave like that. The man came to meet me. He put his turban on the ground and I was moving ahead. I asked him to pick up the turban." The Indian Express relied on Bidhuri's now-deleted X (formerly Twitter) post from October 17. 

Logically Facts also spoke an officer at Begun Police Station Chandrashekar. He confirmed that the video is from 2021 and from the area. 

The verdict

An MLA from Rajasthan was misidentified as Chouhan insulting a man. The viral video is from Rajasthan and not from Madhya Pradesh.