Fact Check: Did this Hindu group protest against PM Modi in Karnataka?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made several visits to Karnataka ahead of the assembly election scheduled to be held in May.

During his visits, he has inaugurated several projects. A video has now gone viral which shows a large group of men sporting saffron scarves and carrying flags. It also shows some of the men standing on a bull.

While reverse-searching the keyframes of the viral video, we found a report in the Marathi daily Sakal dated February 5 2021. As per this report, the protest was staged by the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. The image in the report matches the one in the viral video and hence we could conclude that the protest video is from Maharashtra and not Karnataka.

The Shiv Sena had held a bullock cart march in February 2021 in the Hingoli district of Maharashtra to protest against the hike in fuel prices. The rally was led by Shiv Sena MLA Santosh Bangar.

A video of the protest was also uploaded on YouTube on February 5 2021. The video clearly explains that the protest was against the fuel price hike and not against PM Modi in Karnataka.

The fuel prices had reached a high across the country in February 2021. This led to protests and demonstrations across the country.

Several other media outlets too had reported the news item about the Shiv Sena staged a protest against the hike in fuel prices. At the time of the protest, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Agadi government was in power in Maharashtra.

Hence it is clear that the protest video which is being shared widely with the claim that it is from Karnataka is false. The video is from February 2021 and the protest was staged by the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra against the rise in fuel prices.