2022 video from Telangana viral as attack on BJP campaign vehicle in Karnataka

Karnataka is going to the polls on and from May 10, 2023. The BJP, the Congress, and some regional parties will lock horns to get a majority in the 224-seat state legislative assembly. A video has gone viral on social media where a mob can be seen chasing down and vandalizing a BJP campaign vehicle. Users have shared this video in the context of the upcoming Karnataka elections and claimed, ”The below video explains the mood of #Karnataka voters. The amount of agony, angst & pain is real and evident on the ground”.

The chairman of the Telangana State Renewable Energy Department, and a member of the ruling party, Y Satish Reddy, shared this video on Twitter using the same caption. The tweet has over 40,000 views and the video in this context has gone viral.

The below video explains the mood of #Karnataka voter. The amount of agony, angst & pain is real and evident on the ground 👇 #KarnatakaElection2023 pic.twitter.com/cTFgVtTVcY

— YSR (@ysathishreddy) April 24, 2023

The official Twitter handle of INC Karnataka also tweeted this video with a caption in Kannada that translates to ”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. Answers to the price rise of each stone @BJP4Karnataka that fell on the vehicle, corruption, fraud, mismanagement.”

ಖಾಲಿ ಕುರ್ಚಿಗಳ ಸಮಾವೇಶ ನಡೆಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಬಿಜೆಪಿಗೆ ಜನಾಕ್ರೋಶ ದರ್ಶನ ಮುಂದುವರೆದಿದೆ.

ಬಿಜೆಪಿ ಅಭ್ಯರ್ಥಿಗಳಷ್ಟೇ ಅಲ್ಲ, ಬಿಜೆಪಿಯ ಪ್ರಚಾರ ವಾಹನವನ್ನು ಕಂಡರೂ ಜನರಿಗೆ ಅಸಹ್ಯ, ಆಕ್ರೋಶ ಹುಟ್ಟುವಂತಾಗಿದೆ.

ವಾಹನಕ್ಕೆ ಬಿದ್ದ ಒಂದೊಂದು ಕಲ್ಲೆಟುಗಳೂ @BJP4Karnataka ಯ ಬೆಲೆ ಏರಿಕೆ, ಭ್ರಷ್ಟಾಚಾರ, ವಂಚನೆ, ದುರಾಡಳಿತಕ್ಕೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕ ಉತ್ತರಗಳು. pic.twitter.com/0vNtX4weih

— Karnataka Congress (@INCKarnataka) April 24, 2023

Another Twitter handle by the name Брат also shared this video with a similar claim. The tweet has over 50,000 views at the time of the writing of this article.

Karnataka voters felicitating a BJP Karnataka campaign vehicle very lovingly during an election rally. #KarnatakaElection2023 pic.twitter.com/woxo53dXnt

— Брат (@B5001001101) April 24, 2023

Fact Check

By breaking down the video using the InVid software, and then reverse-searching one of those frames on Google, Alt News came across a video tweeted by ANI on November 1, 2022. The caption of the video says, “A clash broke out allegedly between TRS and BJP workers, on the last day of the Munugode by-election campaign, in Telangana’s Nalgonda”.

The BJP campaign vehicle in the viral video can be clearly seen from the 15th second onward in the video. Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), now renamed Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), is a party founded by the present chief minister, K Chandrashekar Rao.

#WATCH | A clash broke out allegedly between TRS and BJP workers, on the last day of the Munugode by-election campaign, in Telangana’s Nalgonda pic.twitter.com/afCFABmY83

— ANI (@ANI) November 1, 2022

Alt News also came across a video report by Times Now on their YouTube channel, by closely examining the video, we noticed a frame at 2:27 from a higher angle, just as the viral video, of the BJP campaign vehicle.

By taking a cue from this, we then performed a keyword search. We came across a news report from INDIA TV from November 1, 2022. We also found a Twitter thread by G Kishan Reddy, the present Union minister of tourism, on the violent clashes.

The frustration & desperation of TRS over losing the Munugode By-poll is evident from the attack on Sr leader, @BJP4India National Executive Member & MLA Sh @Eatala_Rajender Garu & his wife in Munugode

I strongly condemn the attack on Smt & Sh Rajender garu & our Karyakartas
1/2 pic.twitter.com/gKUaxL3Jkl

— G Kishan Reddy (@kishanreddybjp) November 1, 2022

Hence, it is clear that the viral video shows a clash between TRS and BJP supporters during the Munugode bypoll in November 2022. The video is old and it is not related to the coming Karnataka elections as claimed by some social media users.

Vansh Shah is an intern with Alt News.