Fact Check: No, Civil Aviation Minister Was Not Dancing Amid IndiGo Crisis — Viral Video is 4 Months Old

IndiGo, the country's largest carrier struggled added more flights as its operations limp back to normalcy following a week of widespread flight cancellations, a video of Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu

Ram Mohan Naidu dancing on the stage is going viral. A fact check has confirmed the clip is old and is being shared with a misleading claim.The purported video is going viral with the claim that the Union Civil Aviation Minister was enjoying while the country was reeling under a crisis.IndiGo Flight Cancellation Live Updates "Flights delayed, terminals overcrowded, passengers helpless and the Aviation Minister is dancing. This government has mastered one thing: entertainment over governance. Stop dancing and start managing the mess you created,” read a post featuring the union minister's video. The video was widely shared across social media platforms with caption - "India Deserves Better". Upon checking, the viral video was found to be four months old, with no connection to the current situation in the country, according to the fact-check unit of Press Information Bureau (PIB). The video is said be of the minister dancing at his cousin's wedding. "Several posts circulating on social media show an old video of Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, claiming he was dancing amid the recent operational disruptions and flight cancellations across IndiGo’s network.This claim is misleading!" PIB Fact-Check posted on X. "The Video is four months old, and it has no link to the current situation and is being circulated out of context. Old and unrelated videos are often reused to spread misinformation. Verify timelines and sources before believing or forwarding viral content," the post added.

Addressing the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister Naidu said that the government plans to take strict action against IndiGo to "set an example" for airlines that violate regulations. "We are not taking this situation lightly. We are doing an inquiry and will take very, very strict action... we will set an example for all the other airlines," Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said in reply to questions in the Rajya Sabha.

IndiGo, whose delayed preparation for stricter pilot rest rules triggered last week's wave of cancellations, operated 1,800 flights on Monday, up from around 1,650 on Sunday. At the peak of disruptions, more than two-thirds of its roughly 2,300 daily flights were grounded on December 5.The sector regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which had previously issued a show cause notice to IndiGo CEO to explain the disruptions, set up a four-member panel to probe the matter. A DGCA statement said it has received IndiGo's response to its show cause notice and is examining it following which an appropriate enforcement action will be taken.