Old RSS Kerala march video shared as recent in context of Haryana polls

New Delhi: Ahead of assembly polls in Haryana, a video has been shared on social media with the claim that it showed a foot march by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers in the state.

The users who shared the video recently also claimed that the RSS, considered as the ideological parent organisation of the BJP, was working on a war-footing in the poll-bound state.

However, a PTI Fact Check investigation revealed that the video is not recent and does not depict Haryana. The footage dates back to October 2022, showing an RSS march in Malappuram, Kerala, during the Vijayadashami festival.

The video was widely shared as a current event linked to the Haryana polls, misleading many.

One post on X (formerly Twitter) accompanying the video reads: “RSS in Haryana. Great to see they are in Hyper Active mode now. All internal issues between RSS & BJP were settled. They know MatraBhumi Bharat is beyond any Egos. Proud to be swayamsewak.”

This post has received over 190,000 views and nearly 3,000 retweets.

To verify the video's origin, the PTI Fact Check team utilised InVid Tool Search and Google Lens to analyse key frames from the footage. These searches led to an Instagram post by the handle ‘Sangha Shakthi’ dated October 7, 2022, showing the same video with a caption indicating that the march took place in Tanur, Malappuram, Kerala.

Additionally, a Facebook post from the same day by Vishwa Samvad Kendra–Kokan confirmed the location as Malappuram on the occasion of Vijayadashami.

Further geolocation efforts, using signboards visible in the video, pinpointed the exact location of the march in Malappuram, confirming the false context in which the video has been circulated.

This incident underscores the need for caution when interpreting social media posts, particularly in the charged atmosphere surrounding elections.