The Election Commission of India, in a press conference on 17 August 2025, rebuked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his “vote chori” allegation and dismissed claims of irregularities in the special intensive revision exercise in poll-bound Bihar. Amidst this row, a video is circulating on social media (here, here, and here) with the claim that it shows people thrashing a BJP MLA in Haryana over the ‘vote chori’ issue. Let’s verify the claim made in the post in this article.
Claim: A video shows people thrashing a BJP MLA in Haryana over the vote chori issue.
Fact: The video is old and unrelated to the 2025 “vote chori” row. It shows a 10 July 2020 incident at the SDO office of the Munak Electricity Department in Gagsina village, Karnal district, Haryana, where a clash broke out between two groups over a power line dispute. Media reports confirm it was a case of personal enmity, with no involvement of any BJP leader or political party. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
A reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video led us to several media reports from July 2020 (here, here, and here) featuring the same video, confirming that it is unrelated to the 2025 “vote chori” issue. According to these reports, the incident took place in the SDO (Sub Divisional Officer) office of the Munak Electricity Department in Gagsina village, Karnal district, Haryana, on 10 July 2020. Villagers had complained that a new power line was being laid through their farmland, and the SDO instructed the contractor to change the plan. While this discussion was ongoing, a group of men stormed into the office and attacked the villagers, leaving one person seriously injured. The entire episode was captured on the office’s CCTV camera.
This incident occurred when the victim, Joginder, and Dhan Singh of Gagsina village were sitting in the SDO office. Shortly after, five men from the same village began thrashing them. Gharaunda police station in-charge Manoj Kumar reportedly stated that the clash broke out between two parties due to personal enmity. A case was registered against the five accused, of whom three were arrested on 23 July 2020. In none of these reports is there any mention of the involvement of the BJP or any political party leader on either side.
This incident was also reported by several other media outlets, which can be seen here, here, and here.
To sum up, a July 2020 video of a clash between two groups from the same village at the SDO office in Gagsina, Karnal district, Haryana, over personal enmity, is falsely shared linking it to the 2025 vote chori issue.
