By Rohit Kumar
An old video of BJP MP and former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje Scindia speaking to somebody over the phone is viral online with the false claim that she was seen congratulating independent candidate Ravindra Singh Bhati for winning a seat in the Rajasthan state elections.
BOOM found that the claims are false; the video is from 2021 and shows Raje congratulating Neeraj Chopra for winning a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
The counting for Rajasthan state elections concluded on December 3, and the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) ended up securing a majority in the state by winning 115 seats, whereas the Congress won 69 seats. Vasundhara Raje ended up winning the seat from Jhalrapatan and Ravindra Bhati, too, won from Barmer's Sheo constituency.
The video of Vasundhara Raje shows her congratulating someone over the phone and is being shared with the caption, "Vasundhara called Ravindra Singh Bhati. Is Vasundhara Raje worshiping the independent candidates? It is said that Vasundhara Raje was congratulating BJP's rebel Ravindra Bhati in advance on the call!"
(Original text in Hindi: "वसुंधरा ने किया रविंद्र सिंह भाटी को फोन क्या निर्दलियों को साधने की कवायद में जुटीं वसुंधरा राजे? बताया जा रहा वसुंधरा राजे कॉल पर शिव विधानसभा से भाजपा के बागी रविंद्र भाटी को जीत की अग्रिम बधाई दे रही हैं!")
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FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the video of Vasudhara Raje is unrelated to the recent Rajasthan State Elections; it shows her congratulating athlete Neeraj Chopra for winning a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
We scanned the comments under the viral video and found that several users had pointed out how the video is old and shows a conversation between Vasundhara Raje and Neeraj Chopra.
We ran a reverse image search of some key frames from the viral video and found a post on Facebook shared on August 12, 2021 that mentioned how Raje was speaking to Chopra and congratulating him for his success in Tokyo.
We also found the same post shared on Raje's official Instagram account on August 11, 2021 with the caption, "Javelin Thrower Neeraj Chopra has raised the honor of the country and has made us all proud. Talked to him yesterday evening and congratulated him on winning the gold medal in #Tokyo2020 and expressed heartfelt gratitude from everyone. I wish for a bright future of Neeraj."
(Original text in Hindi: "जैवेलिन थ्रोअर नीरज चोपड़ा ने देश का मान बढ़ाया है और हम सभी का सिर गर्व से ऊँचा किया है। #Tokyo2020 में स्वर्ण पदक जीतने पर कल शाम उनसे बात कर उन्हें बधाई दी और सभी की तरफ से हार्दिक आभार भी व्यक्त किया। मैं नीरज के उज्ज्वल भविष्य की कामना करती हूं।"
Neeraj Chopra won the gold medal for javelin throw at the Tokyo Olympics on August 7, 2021, helping India clinch its first gold in the athletics category. Chopra received praise from people across the country, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then President Ram Nath Kovind.
