No, video doesn't capture women attacking Congress MP over party’s ₹8,500 poll promise

What's being claimed?

A video of Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Kumari Selja speaking to the media with people outside the door creating ruckus has been shared on social media. The claim accompanying the video states that it shows women breaking into her office, demanding the party fulfill its poll promise of providing monthly financial support of ₹8,500 to economically weaker women. 

In the video, the Selja can be seen speaking to the people before she instructs a man near the door to let them in. However, moments later, the glass on the door breaks. 

An X (formerly Twitter) user, Mr Sinha, who has often been called out for sharing disinformation, shared this video and wrote, “Local women demanding their ₹8500, as promised by Rahul Gandhi, broke into Congress MP Kumari Shailja's office. They had almost made her hostage....This issue is backfiring Congress badly.” The post had over 200,000 views and 8,000 likes at the time of writing the story. The archive of other such posts can be found here and here.

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

However, the claim is misleading. The video shows Congress supporters demanding entry into Selja’s office during her press conference in Haryana’s Fatehabad.

What did we find? 

We noticed that the viral video carried the logo of “MY CITY NEWS”, a local media outlet in Haryana, on the top left corner. Using this as a cue, we found the original video on their Facebook (archived here) page posted on June 13, 2024.

The caption mentioned that Congress members Paramveer Singh and his supporters were standing outside the room where Selja and other Congress leaders were talking to the media. The room was reportedly locked, and Singh and his supporters were standing outside. During the tussle to try to get the door open, the glass on the door shattered. 

Another local news channel called Haryana News (archived here) uploaded this video on YouTube on the same date with similar details. We also found this video on Punjab Kesari Haryana's YouTube channel (archived here) which mentioned that Singh’s supporters broke the door after they were allegedly denied entry into the press conference. 

According to a Tribune India report, the door was closed by some media persons, after which Singh tried to enter the room. Selja denied it had been locked from the inside; later, Singh sat next to Selja, and the press conference resumed, the report added.

The Congress MP has asked for an internal investigation into the matter and find out what exactly happened, reported ETV Bharat. We also contacted News 18 correspondent Jaspal Singh, a reporter based in Fatehabad, who corroborated the details, and dismissed the claim that the people outside the door were local women demanding ₹8,500 from the Congress leaders.

A Hindustan Times report adds that Selja has to admitted factionalism within the Congress in Tohana, Haryana, and asked the party’s state in-charge Deepak Babria to sort out the issues.

Logically Facts has contacted the Congress leaders seen in the video for a comment. The story will be updated if and when we receive a response. 

The verdict

A video of Congress supporters breaking into Selja’s press conference in Fatehabad on June 13, has been shared with a misleading narrative that local women attacked the MP’s office demanding to fulfill the Congress poll promise of giving ₹8,500 to women.