Fact Check: Viral video showing BJP MP Hemamalini refusing to board a small car for campaigning is not recent
Lok Sabha elections are fast approaching and all leaders across the country are immersed in filing nominations and campaigning in their respective constituencies.
Lok Sabha elections are fast approaching and all leaders across the country are immersed in filing nominations and campaigning in their respective constituencies. In this backdrop, many old videos of the leaders are resurfacing with false claims to mislead the public.
A video of BJP MP Hemamalini is in circulation on social media with the claim that during the campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections 2024, she threw tantrums to sit in a small vehicle and demanded a bigger vehicle. The users shared this video with sarcastic comments that she is a big leader of the BJP, and she can't get into a small car.
The claims are prominently in Hindi: “पार्ट टाइम राजनीति करने वालों का अंदाज़ ऐसा ही होता है। जनप्रतिनिधि हैं लेकिन नखरे अभी भी “फ़िल्मी हीरोइन” वाले ही हैं… “मैं बड़ी गाड़ी में जाऊँगी…कोई रोड शो वग़ैरह नहीं…अगर ज़्यादा किया तो वापस आ जाऊँगी…I have other works to do…”हेमा मालिनी लोकतंत्र का महापर्व चल रहा है मगर ड्रीम गर्ल अलग ही सपने में हैं…उड़न खटोले से नीचे धरती
पर उतर ही नहीं रहीं है #Mathura #LokSabhaElection2024”
“बड़ी खबर: हेलीकॉप्टर से उतरते ही दिलावर खां (धर्मेंद्र) की पत्नी आयशा बेगम उर्फ हेमा मालिनी द्वारा गेंहू काटने जाने के लिए छोटी गाड़ी में बैठने से किया इंकार,फार्च्यूनर गाड़ी में बैठने के लिए अड़ी.. कार्यकर्ता को सीट पीछे करने के लिये भी धमकाया”
Fact Check:
The claim is Misleading. The video is an old one and not related to the recent Lok Sabha elections.
When we searched for Hemamalini’s recent meeting in Mathura, we did not find any such incidents.
When the keyframes extracted from the video were searched using Google reverse image search, we found several news reports confirming that the incident took place in the year 2014.
According to Punjab.abplive.com, the 1.20 minute video is from 2014 and it was shot even before she became an MP.
We found videos published on YouTube with the title “Hemamalini MP BJP leader, Karnal mai inke Nakhre”. These videos were published in October 2014.
After the incident went viral, we found that Hemamalini clarified her actions on X (Twitter) in October 2014 stating that it was not nakhra on her part but a legitimate request to have a SUV to be safe during the roadshow in Haryana.
This clarification was also published by several news websites like Hindustan Times.
Therefore, video of BJP MP Hemamalini asking for a bigger car and not getting into a small car is an old one and not related to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The claim is Misleading.