Truth Test: BJP MLA Yogesh Sagar’s dispute with cops over visitors regulation shared with a communal twist

Recently, classes of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the Bharatiya Janata Party clashed in Telangana over remarks made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The videos of the incident were shared on social media with false claims. Now, the Congress party, the Shiv Sena, and the BJP are up in arms in Maharashtra over comments made by the PM, and misinformation is once again in the mix.

A video of BJP MLA Yogesh Sagar went viral on social media claiming he was protesting against the police blocking roads for namaz in Mumbai’s Kandivali.

“Yesterday (2/18/22) BJP MLA Yogesh Sagar at Kandivali protested against shivsena for closing road for namaz. All traffic including bus diverted or stopped.

Raghulila Road,” one such tweet read.

Similar claims have been archived here and here.

The India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found the claim is misleading. Charkop MLA Yogesh Sagar protested against police action that barricaded off several key roads to avoid untoward incidents during a Congress protest. Namaz or any other religious subject wasn’t discussed by the legislator with the cops.

AFWA sample

On February 7, PM Modi told the Parliament that the Congress crossed all limits during the first Covid-19 wave when it forced migrant laborers to leave Mumbai and Delhi. The party pushed workers to go back to their states and spread coronavirus, Modi told the Lok Sabha.

The state unit of the Congress said this was an offense against Maharashtra and organized a protest march towards opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis’ house on February 14 and announced another one towards the residence of Mumbai North MP Gopal Shetty on February 16. More details about the developments can be read here.

We checked if the said video was shot at Kandivali. A board that read “Riders Point” was visible behind as Yogesh argued with the officers. Using Google Maps we confirmed that the Kandivali neighborhood did have a car sales point by the same name. The telephone tower adjacent to the establishment was also visible in the video.

The tweet said the incident happened at Raghulila Road. Google Maps also revealed that Kandivali’s Raghuleela Mega Mall is located about 300 meters away from Riders Point.

Moreover, one of the barricades that the MLA moved forcefully had Kandivali inscribed on it. This confirmed that the video was shot at Kandivali as claimed in the post.

However, there was no mention of Namaz or any religious affairs in the entire clip. While the legislator is heard criticizing the “Shiv Sena intimidation” and the problems it caused for the people, neither his side nor the police made any mention of Namaz.

Using keyword search, we found a couple of news reports on YouTube with the same video. These reports had no mention of Namaz as well. In24News stated that the police diverted traffic and placed barricades in key areas of Kandivali to contain the protesting Congress workers. However, this caused major inconvenience to the public, which irked the BJP MLA.

Zee News also gave a similar explanation to the incident and there was no mention of any public prayer.

We contacted Yogesh Sagar for further clarity. The three-time MLA said the allegation had come to his attention.

“The Congress had planned a rally towards MP Gopal Shetty’s house. The police blocked kilometers of roads that connected schools, offices, residential buildings, medical stores, and hospitals,” he said.

“I just asked the force to cover and protect Gopal Shetty’s residence instead of blocking the whole area and roads. It was causing inconvenience to the public. The incident had nothing to do with Namaz or any religion for that matter. When I got to know about these rumours, I had explained the reality on Facebook,” the MLA added.

When checked, we found the same video uploaded on Yogesh’s verified Facebook page on the afternoon of February 16.

“I raised some issues in front of the police on the day of Congress march near MP Shri Gopal Shetty’s house, and this is the video of the controversy. Some people have tried to link this video with some parties and Namaz. I condemn all these people spreading lies and creating chaos,” his post in Marathi read.

The video was also shared on the official page of the Mumbai BJP on the same day. The party also repeated the narrative Sagar shared and didn’t mention protesting public prayer.

https://twitter.com/iGopalShetty?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@iGopalShetty https://twitter.com/INCMumbai?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@INCMumbai . . https://twitter.com/Yogeshsagar09?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Yogeshsagar09 . https://t.co/br5rQPcDpr”>pic.twitter.com/br5rQPcDpra>

— BJP Mumbai (@BJP4Mumbai) https://twitter.com/BJP4Mumbai/status/1493911161259307008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>February 16, 2022

We also confirmed that there were no media reports on February 16 or the following days about Yogesh Sagar or his party colleagues questioning public prayers in Mumbai.

Thus, it can be concluded that Maharashtra BJP MLA Yogesh Sagar’s outburst against police regulations was shared with false communally charged claims. His actions at Kandivali had nothing to do with Namaz.

(With inputs from Sanjana Saxena in Lucknow)

claimsVideo of BJP MLA Yogesh Sagar protesting the police decision to close roads to facilitate Namaz in Mumbai’s KandivaliConclusionThe video was shot on Feb 16 when Congress had announced a march to the house of BJP MP Gopal Shetty. Cops blocked roads to avoid any untoward incidents. Yogesh Sagar argued with the police and tried to remove barricades alleging public inconvenience. This had nothing to do with Namaz.

JHOOTH BOLE KAUVA KAATE

The number of crows determines the intensity of the lie.

• 1 Crow: Half True
• 2 Crows: Mostly read
• 3 Crows: Absolutely false