By Hazel Gandhi
A video showing Madhya Pradesh's former Chief Minister and Congress leader Digvijay Singh dismissing a woman trying to approach him is viral online with the false claim that she was shooed away after asking for the Rs 8,500 promised by the Congress to women of poor households during their election campaign.
BOOM found that the claims are false, the video dates back to February this year and shows Digvijay Singh dismissing the woman for reasons unrelated to the Congress' election promises.
During his election campaign in Uttar Pradesh, Congress' Rahul Gandhi spoke about implementingmonetary schemes to benefit women and unemployed youth if elected to power, one of which included giving Rs 1 lakh per year and Rs 8,500 per month in their bank accounts. This statement quickly caught on following the party's victory in Uttar Pradesh, with some women even lining up outside the Congress' office in Lucknow to redeem their money. Congress' Sonia Gandhi had spoken about implementing a similar Mahalaxmi Scheme for women of poor households.
In the viral video, the woman can be seen trying to approach Singh while his security tries to stop her. Singh then says in Hindi, "Kick her out." The video is being connected to Rahul Gandhi's promise of Rs 8,500 per month to claim that Digvijay Singh ignored a woman who asked for her compensation.
A caption on X reads, "When a woman reached former Congress chief minister Digvijay Singh to collect the 8500 rupees of Rahul Gandhi's guarantee card, see how he treated the woman"
(Original text in Hindi: "जब एक महिला कांग्रेस MP के पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री दिग्विजय सिंह के पास राहुल गांधी के गारंटी कार्ड के खटाखट खटाखट वाले 8500 रू लेने पहुंच गई तो देखो उन्होंने महिला से क्या बर्ताव किया")
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The video is also being shared on Facebook with a similar caption.
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FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the claims are false, the video is old and shows a woman trying to approach Digvijay Singh to contest the general election from Varanasi against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
We ran a keyword search using 'Digvijay Singh angry at woman' in Hindi and found several news reports from February 21, 2024, that carried visuals matching the viral video.
According to NDTV, Digvijay Singh was part of a meet-up organised in a hotel in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, on February 21 when the incident occurred.
The report details how the woman tried to speak to Digvijay Singh but was not allowed to do so by his security. After being escorted out of the venue, she was surrounded by reporters and while speaking to them, she identified herself as Leena Sharma and claimed to be a Congress worker.
According to Aaj Tak, Sharma told the media that she wished to contest the general election from Varanasi against Modi. She further added that she was not offended by Singh's reaction and that he did not misbehave with her.
MP Tak's YouTube channel carried a video that was an exact match to the viral video on February 21.
None of the reports from that time mention anything about the woman asking Digvijay Singh for the compensation of Rs 8,500 promised by the Congress.
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