Gujarat’s Patidar leader Hardik Patel has recently quit congress and joined the BJP. It is in the context a social media post accompanying a video of Hardik Patel getting slapped by a man on stage is being shared as if the incident happened after him joining the BJP. The post claims that he was welcomed with a slap, as he joins the BJP. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Hardik Patel was slapped on stage after joining the BJP.
Fact: The incident took place in 2019, when he was in the Congress. Multiple news agencies reported the incident back then. As per these reports, Hardik Patel was slapped by Tarun Gajjar, while he was addressing a poll rally in Gujarat’s Surendra Nagar district. The video has nothing to do with his joining the BJP. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Hardik Patel recently joined the BJP; however, the viral visuals have nothing to do with his joining the BJP. These visuals are related to an old incident that dates back to 2019.
Google search with relevant keywords yielded multiple news reports that reported the same visuals (here, here & here). As per these reports, the then Congress leader Hardik Patel was slapped on stage by an unidentified man while Patel was addressing a poll rally in Gujarat’s Surendra Nagar district.
Other news reports that reported the incident can be read here & here. Later on the man was identified as Tarun Gajjar, and he confessed that he slapped Hardik Patel for some personal reasons. Thus, these reports establish that viral visuals have nothing to do with Hardik Patel joining BJP.
To sum it up, old video from 2019 when Hardik Patel was in the Congress is being shared claiming that he got slapped after joining BJP.
