Karnataka Power Struggle: Old Video Of DK Shivakumar With N Chandrababu Naidu Viral As Recent

Claim

A viral video shows Karnataka’s deputy chief minister and Congress state president DK Shivakumar greeting Andhra Pradesh chief minister and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu, who is currently aligned with the NDA, amid ongoing discussions around a power tussle within Karnataka’s Congress leadership.

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We Are Working Together: Shivakumar

Addressing speculation about internal conflict, Shivakumar denied reports of disagreement with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. “There is no difference between me and the CM. As the party president, I know my limits. I have never made any comments or expressed any difference of opinion with the Chief Minister. We are all working together,” he said, affirming unity within the party.

Fact

A Google search of keywords related to DK Shivakumar, Chandrababu Naidu, and an airport led to a December 2023 report by The New Indian Express, which included a screenshot from the viral video. The report explained that the two leaders met at Bengaluru’s HAL Airport when Naidu arrived en route to Kuppam and Shivakumar was headed to Nagpur for Congress Formation Day. The video, shared by ANI on December 28, 2023, went viral and triggered political speculation. However, TDP leader Nara Lokesh clarified that the meeting was coincidental and did not have any political meaning.

The same video went viral around the 2024 Lok Sabha Polls with a claim to show Shivakumar “attempting to lure” Naidu and was debunked by Newschecker on June 9, 2024.

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Therefore, the video of DK Shivakumar and Chandrababu Naidu is old and is being shared out of context amid recent reports of a power struggle within the Karnataka Congress government.