As japanese India’s Bihar state — a key electoral battleground — gears up for polls in November, social media customers have falsely claimed a video of a crowd attacking a convoy of auto reveals public outrage in opposition to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP). The footage was in actual fact filmed in neighbouring West Bengal state.
“Countdown for BJP’s finish has began,” reads a Hindi-language Instagram put up shared on October 11, 2025.
Hindi-language textual content overlaid on the video reads: “BJP chief welcomed in Bihar, farmer revolutionaries of Bihar.”
The clip reveals a crowd hitting a automobile in a convoy with sticks and stones earlier than giving chase because it drives off.
Screenshot of the false put up captured October 20, 2025, with a purple X added by AFP
The clip appeared elsewhere on Fb and Instagram with comparable claims forward of state meeting elections in Bihar, set to start on November 6 and scheduled to final for greater than every week (archived hyperlink).
Bihar, India’s poorest and third-most populous state with at the least 130 million folks, is a key electoral battleground, the one state in India’s northern Hindi-speaking heartland the place Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP has by no means dominated alone (archived hyperlink).
Incidents of staff from totally different political events clashing with one another throughout blitzkrieg election campaigns have been reported all through the state, however there are not any credible studies of members of the general public attacking BJP staff as of October 28, 2025.
A Google reverse picture search discovered the circulating clip corresponds to an extended video shared on a Fb web page on October 8, 2025 (archived hyperlink). It may be seen on the Fb reel’s 21-second mark.
The video’s caption says that Indian troopers “weren’t spared” within the assault and two folks have been arrested within the incident. It additionally included a hashtag for Jalpaiguri, a district in West Bengal state, neighbouring Bihar.
Screenshot comparability of the false put up (left) and the video shared on Fb (proper)
Native media featured comparable photos of individuals attacking the convoy in studies about locals mobbing BJP lawmaker Khagen Murmu and chief Shankar Ghosh once they visited flood-hit components of Jalpaiguri on October 6 (archived hyperlinks right here and right here).
Murmu suffered critical head accidents whereas the home windows of Ghosh’s automotive have been damaged through the assault.
BJP leaders blamed the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress social gathering for orchestrating the assaults — an accusation refuted by Trinamool (archived hyperlink).
Visible clues additionally point out the incident was filmed in Jalpaiguri, not Bihar.
A sticker seen on the vandalised automobile reads in Bengali, “Bharatiya Janata Celebration West Bengal”. The code “WB 72” on bikes parked alongside the road belongs to autos registered in Jalpaiguri (archived hyperlink).
Screenshot of the video within the false posts, with parts indicating it was filmed in West Bengal highlighted by AFP
AFP has beforehand debunked misinformation associated to the Bihar elections right here and right here.
