Authors
Sabloo Thomas has worked as a special correspondent with the Deccan Chronicle from 2011 to December 2019. Post-Deccan Chronicle, he freelanced for various websites and worked in the capacity of a translator as well (English to Malayalam and Malayalam to English). He’s also worked with the New Indian Express as a reporter, senior reporter, and principal correspondent. He joined Express in 2001.
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Crowd attacks BJP vehicle during campaigning for Karnataka Assembly elections
Fact
Video is of clashes during 2022 Munugode bypoll in Huzurabad, Telangana
Several social media users, including verified Twitter handles, tweeted out a video of a crowd of people vandalising what appears to be an election vehicle belonging to the BJP. The users claimed that the incident happened in the run-up to the much-anticipated Karnataka Assembly elections, scheduled to be held on May 10.
According to the Karnataka Congress’s tweet, translated from Kannada, “BJP, which was holding a convention of empty chairs, continues to face public outrage. Not only the BJP candidates, but even seeing the BJP’s campaign vehicle, people are disgusted and outraged…”.
The archived versions of the posts can be seen here and here.
Also read: Old Video Of Brij Bhushan Singh Slapping Wrestler Falsely Linked To Recent Wrestlers Protest
Fact check
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of keyframes of the video, which led us to this post by Facebook user Sivaram Pratapa on November 1, 2022 . According to this post, the video is from Telangana where supporters of TRS attacked the convoy of BJP MLA Etela Rajender.
A relevant keyword search led us to a News9 article, dated November 1, 2022, stating that on the last day of campaigning in the Munugode bypoll, BJP MLA Etela Rajender‘s convoy was attacked with stones by unidentified people, following which a clash erupted between TRS and BJP activists. Similar news reports can be seen here and here, confirming that the viral video is of the same incident.
We also came across this tweet by BJP leader and Union minister, G Kishan Reddy, dated November 1, 2022, confirming that the attack took place during the campaigning for the Munugode by-election.
Conclusion
A video of a clash during a bypoll in Telangana in 2022 falsely linked to upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections.
Result: False
Sources
Tweet by G Kishan Reddy, November 1, 2022
Times of India report, November 2, 2022
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Authors
Sabloo Thomas has worked as a special correspondent with the Deccan Chronicle from 2011 to December 2019. Post-Deccan Chronicle, he freelanced for various websites and worked in the capacity of a translator as well (English to Malayalam and Malayalam to English). He’s also worked with the New Indian Express as a reporter, senior reporter, and principal correspondent. He joined Express in 2001.
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
