Actress mistakenly believed to be the newly elected Delhi chief minister ‘performing martial arts stunts’

Indian Indian nationalist Bharatiya Janata party conducted a poll in Delhi in February 2025, marking its return to the capital in two decades. But a clip showing a woman performing martial arts stunts and performing swords. The clip is not shown As the social media post claims, the newly elected chief minister; tHis video actually shows actor Payal Jadhav.

“The old video of RSS activist Rekha Gupta, now the Chief Minister of Delhi. How do you feel now, Kejriwal. Run as much as possible,” Read the Hindi X post shared on February 21.

The clip shows a woman wearing a sari, showing what seems to be a swordsmanship.

This post surfaced After BJP MPs Rekha Gupta On February 20, he was sworn in as the ninth chief minister of Delhi (Archive link).

Screenshot of False X Post, captured on February 21, 2025

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP won the general election of the local legislature in Delhi on February 5, expelling the AAM AADMI party of Arvind Kejriwal, who has been ruling since 2015 (archive link). Kejriwal, a well-known critic of Modi, spent several months in prison last year on his party kickbacks in exchange for a liquor license.

The BJP is in the national government, but has not controlled the local legislature in Delhi since 1998, so it is both symbolic and strategic in the polls.

The video is shared with similar claims Facebook and X.

Sword Fighting is a traditional Indian martial arts technique (archive link). The practice of the old woman in India is a form of self-defense (the archived link).

User comments show that they are proud of the video because it allegedly shows that the new chief minister has demonstrated her abilities.

One user commented: “The BJP has another yogi, Delhi today and will rule the country tomorrow.”

Another user said: “I think in our country, all girls should receive self-defense training in schools. Mandatory training should be done in all schools. In order to defend themselves when needed.”

But the video shows dancer and actor Payal Jadhav, not Delhi’s chief minister Rekha Gupta.

Non-related videos

Reverse image search on Google found the same video uploaded Verified Jadhav’s Instagram account was on February 19, 2025 (Archive Link).

“Salute to the great deeds of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,” part of the content is part of it.

Shivaji is the ruler of India and he established marathon The Kingdom of India in the 17th Century (Archive Link).

In another post on Instagram, Jadhav posted a clarification of the video, confirming it, rather than the Chief Minister of Delhi (a link to archive).

“Recently, I noticed that the video is circulating on social media and mentioned that it was the respected Chief Minister Mrs. Rekha Gupta. This information is incorrect.”

AFP reached out to Jadhav, who shared her Instagram statement confirming the video was shown to her.