A video of former Member of Parliament (MP) Naresh Agarwal, comparing Hindu Gods and Goddesses to alcohol is being widely shared on social media.
What does he say?: In the viral video, Agarwal can be heard comparing whiskey with Lord Vishnu, rum to Lord Ram, gin to Goddess Sita, and Lord Hanuman to Indian country-made liquor (ठर्रा).
Those sharing this video have claimed that Agarwal made these statements while being a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
An archived version of this post can be seen here.
(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)
Archived versions of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here and here.
But...?: The video is six years old and shows Agarwal making these statements when he was a MP with the Samajwadi Party.
How did we find out the truth?: Using 'naresh agarwal hindu gods alcohol' as keywords, we looked for more information related to the viral video.
The first result was a report by The Hindustan Times, which was published on 19 July 2017.
Its headline identified Agarwal as a leader from the Samajwadi Party (SP), and the report mentioned that the "controversial remarks" were later expunged.
The report was published in 2017.
(Source: The Hindustan Times/Altered by The Quint)
Other news reports such as ones by NDTV, The Hindu, and India Today also published similar reports in July 2017, identifying him as a SP leader, adding that the House continued its discussion after Agarwal apologised.
We also came across a video on Sansad TV's verified channel, where other MPs raised objections against Agarwal's comments and demanded that his statements be expunged.
More on Agarwal: The leader had quit the Samajwadi Party in March 2018, and joined the BJP, after losing out on a Rajya Sabha ticket to Jaya Bachchan, The Quint had reported.
Agarwal joined the BJP in March 2018.
(Source: Altered by The Quint)
Shortly after joining the party, he took a dig at Bachchan, belittling her by calling her a "film actor and dancer."
He later apologised for his remarks after a furore from the BJP and other political parties.
Conclusion: An old video of Naresh Agarwal has gone viral with the false claim that he compared Hindu Gods to alcohol while being a BJP MP.
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