On 06 August 2025, former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister and Apni Janata Party president Swami Prasad Maurya was slapped by a man posing as a supporter during a welcome event at Saras Crossing in Rae Bareli. The assailant, allegedly linked to the Karni Sena, approached him with a garland but suddenly slapped him from behind. Maurya’s supporters immediately overpowered the attacker, and police detained two individuals, identified as Rohit Dwivedi and Shivam Yadav, for questioning (here, here, and here).
Following this incident, a video is being circulated on social media (here, here, and here) with the claim that after Swami Prasad Maurya, a man slapped BJP MLA Yogesh Verma in public. Let’s verify the claim made in the post in this article.
Claim: The video shows a man slapping BJP MLA Yogesh Verma in public in August 2025.
Fact: The video dates back to 09 October 2024, not August 2025. It shows BJP’s Sadar MLA Yogesh Verma being slapped by Awadhesh Singh, President of the District Bar Association, in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, during the Urban Cooperative Bank election nomination process. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
A reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video led us to several media reports featuring the extended version of the same video, dated 09 October 2024 (here, here, and here), confirming that it is old and not from August 2025. According to these reports, the incident took place in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP’s Sadar MLA, Yogesh Verma, was publicly slapped by Awadhesh Singh, President of the District Bar Association, during the Urban Cooperative Bank election nomination process. The confrontation reportedly arose from a dispute over the bank elections.
According to reports (here, here, and here), the slap was followed by a scuffle in which Singh’s supporters also manhandled the MLA, despite the presence of police and officials. Days later, an FIR was registered against Singh, his wife, and others, and the BJP expelled them from the party. The matter also took on a caste dimension, with Rajput groups backing Singh and Kurmi groups supporting Verma, adding to the tensions ahead of the bank elections.
To sum up, an October 2024 video showing BJP MLA Yogesh Verma being slapped by Awadhesh Singh, President of the District Bar Association, in U.P., is being shared as a recent 2025 incident.
