2022 video of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla shared as recent

What is the claim? 

A video of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla reprimanding a member of Parliament (MP) saying, "Respected member, do you have a problem? If you keep standing again and again, I will send you outside," is being shared on a social media platforms claiming he is criticizing an MP after being re-elected as the speaker of the Lower House of the Parliament. 

An X (formerly Twitter) user shared the video with the caption, “Om Birla ji has been re-elected for the same attitude and style. Started off strong and explosive. Do you think that if your numbers increase a little, you will start bullying? Bullying will not be tolerated at all. You must have seen Dada's attitude on the very first day (Translated from Hindi).” Archive of a similar post can be found here.

Birla was re-elected as the speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha through a voice vote on June 26, 2024. He contested as the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) candidate against Congress candidate Kodikunnil Suresh. This is his second term as the speaker.

Screenshot of the social media posts. (Source: Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the claim is misleading. The video is from 2022 and not from the ongoing Parliament session. 

What did we find?

We noticed the date stamp “12.12.22” at the bottom right corner of the video. This indicated that the video is from 2022, not 2024.

Screenshot of the viral video, which shows the date stamp. (Source: Facebook)

Taking this clue, we found the live video of the Lok Sabha session held on December 12, 2022, on Sansad TV (archive here). It was titled: “Lok Sabha Question Hour | 11.00 AM - 12.02 PM | 12 December 2022.” At the 52:06 timestamp, we can see the now-viral clip. 

Birla was hearing a question on currency devaluation and foreign exchange reserves in the Lok Sabha. The original video shows him warning members against referring to caste or religion in the House, after accusations from Congress MP Revanth Reddy that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made comments regarding his community and his proficiency in Hindi.

The Times of India reported on December 12, 2022, that after Reddy's comments during the Lok Sabha's Question Hour, Birla said that neither caste nor religion played a role in the members' election. "Anyone here should never use such words in the House. Otherwise, I will have to take action against such a member,” the speaker warned.

The verdict

A video of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla reprimanding a member during the Question Hour in the Lower House of the Parliament in 2022 has been shared as recent.