Edited videos shared to claim ruling party leaders criticized Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan

By: Rohith Gutta
February 29 2024

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Screenshots of social media posts claiming that YSRCP leaders in Andhra Pradesh criticized their Chief Minister (Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

What is the claim?

Two videos of political leaders from the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP)—the ruling party in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh—are circulating on social media with the claim that they criticized fellow party leader and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy (popularly known as Jagan). 

The videos show Jogi Ramesh, minister for housing (Andhra Pradesh), and Posani Krisha Murali, actor and Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Film Development Corporation (APFDC), purportedly making comments about Jagan. Both videos, which originally show the leaders speaking in Telugu, have surfaced weeks before Andhra Pradesh goes to polls.

In the first video, Ramesh can be heard saying, "Jagan Mohan Reddy is a person who cannot stick to one word. We have been saying that since day one. A person named Jagan Mohan Reddy is not suited for politics. A person named Jagan Mohan Reddy is a person with no values, loyalty, and ideology such is the YSRCP party (sic)."  

In the second video, Posani Krishna Murali says, "You are a corrupt person (the video jumps)..., you are a womanizer, and you play with the lives of women. This is the range of opinions people have about you. 

Archived links of posts sharing the video can be seen here, here, here, and here.

Screenshots of the social media posts sharing the two viral clips. (Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the videos are edited to make it seem like the two YSRCP leaders are criticizing fellow party leader Jagan.

What did we find?

The Jogi Ramesh Video

The video is part of a montage that shows clips from Telugu movies at the bottom half. Ramesh's clip in the montage has several pauses and jump cuts, making it evident that it is edited. Through reverse image search of the keyframes of the video, we were able to trace the original video. The original clip, available on YouTube, shows Ramesh giving an interview to a Telugu channel Sakshi TV on February 24, 2024. The viral video blurred the logo and the channel's watermark.

The video shows Ramesh talking about rival parties Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Jana Sena Party (JSP), who have formed an alliance, after they released their list of candidates fighting the upcoming polls.

The viral video is composed of three parts. The first part runs between the 02:19- 02:25 timestamps in the original Sakshi TV video report. Here, Ramesh says, "We have been saying since day one that Pawan Kalyan cannot stick to one word." (Kalyan is an actor-turned-politician and leader of the JSP). 

The second part is taken from the 02:40-02:43 timestamps, where he says, "Pawan Kalyan is not suited for politics." The third part runs between the 02:43-02:49 timestamps. He says, "Pawan Kalyan is a person with no values, loyalty, or ideology. Such is the Jana Sena Party." 

The term YSRCP Party at 02:53-02:55 time stamp and the term Jagan Mohan Reddy at 02:59- 03:01 timestamp have been cut from the original video and placed at the beginning and the end, respectively, in the viral video to make it appear that he is talking about CM Jagan and the YSRCP. 

The Posani Krishna Murali Video

This video, too, has pauses and jump cuts with Telugu movie scenes inserted in the bottom half of the clip, making the editing quite evident. Through reverse image search, we identified the original video, which shows Posani Krishna Murali giving an interview to Sakshi TV on February 20. The logo and the channel's watermark have been blurred in this viral video as well.

In the original video, Krisha Murali talked about TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu's election campaign. The viral video has two parts. The first part runs between the 02:11 and 02:13 timestamps in the Sakshi TV report. Here, Krishna Murali says, referring to Naidu, "You are a corrupt person." The second part is taken from the original video's 02:13- 02:25 timestamp. Here, he continues to say, "You ( Chandrababu Naidu) are a womanizer, you are a backstabber, and you play with women's lives. This is the range of opinions people have about you." He goes on to say, "These are not my opinions. I have always believed you are an honest person from the beginning."

The verdict

Interview clips of YSRCP leaders talking about leaders from rival parties have been edited to make them seem to criticize YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. The politicians were criticizing opposition leaders Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan. Therefore, we have marked these claims as false.