Fake vs Fact: Did TMC Minister Point Gun at BJP Leader During Live TV Debate?

A video has been viewed tens of thousands of times in multiple posts on Facebook and Twitter alongside a claim that it shows an a leader of the Trinamool Congress pointing a gun at another speaker during a live television debate. The claim is false; the video has been edited from original footage which clearly shows the leader pointing a microphone at his debate opponent.

The video has been viewed more than 25,000 times after being shared in a misleading Facebook post on April 24, 2019.

The caption in the post states: “TMC leader pulls out and points a gun at BJP speaker during a debate in W. Bengal. Mamata talks of democracy being in danger."

Below is a screenshot of the misleading post:

“TMC leader" refers to Rabindra Nath Ghosh, a minister for the government of West Bengal and a member of the All India Trinamool Congress party (TMC).

Ghosh is the man on the left side of the stage in the misleading footage, wearing a white top with a blue waistcoat.

“BJP speaker" refers to Nisith Pramanik, a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for the city of Cooch Behar in West Bengal. His name appears here on a list of candidates for the BJP in West Bengal.

Pramanik is the man on the right hand side of the stage in the misleading footage, wearing orange.

“Mamata" refers to Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal and founder Chairperson of the All India Trinamool Congress party.

The video was also on Facebook with a similar claim.

But the claim is false; the misleading footage has been edited from an original video of the debate which clearly shows Rabindra Nath Ghosh pointing a microphone at his opponent.

AFP located this original video published on a YouTube channel on April 8, 2019, by conducting keyword searches.

The video in the misleading posts is identical to the original YouTube video, starting from 10:04.

The misleading footage also has the channel's watermark in the right hand upper corner of the screen.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the original YouTube video (L) at 10:04 and the beginning of the video in the misleading posts (R):

At the 11:11 in the original video, the footage shows Rabindra Nath Ghosh just before he points an object at BJP candidate Nisith Pramanik.

Below is a screenshot of this moment in the original YouTube video, in which Rabindra Nath Ghosh can clearly be seen to be holding a microphone:

At 11:15 in the original video, Rabindra Nath Ghosh points the microphone at Nisith Pramanik.

The TV channel also used parts of the footage in this video report on its YouTube channel.

The video title states: “TMC MLA attacks BJP leader with mic in between debate."