Video doesn’t show Andhra Pradesh’s YSRCP MLA criticizing her own government

By: Rajeswari Parasa
December 20 2023

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Screenshot of the viral claim about MLA Pushpa Sreevani of the YSRCP. (Source:X/Screenshot)

What is the claim?

A video is circulating on various social media platforms, showing a Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) in Andhra Pradesh, a state in southern India. In the 1-minute and 46-second video, MLA Pushpa Sreevani, representing the Kurupam constituency, expresses her distress as a tribal over the condition of tribal girls receiving sub-standard treatment in a Vijayanagaram hospital.

She addresses several issues faced by tribals and her feelings of helplessness as an MLA in the government. She also mentions her failed attempts to escalate tribal issues to higher authorities.

On December 15, 2023, a user shared this video on X with a Telugu caption translated to English: “Do you know who she is? YCP legislator from Kurupam and former deputy CM Pushpa Sreevani. This is the state of the health department under health minister Rajani, who claims to have established Arogya Andhra Pradesh under Jagan Reddy’s guidance.”

Another post claimed, “Kurupam MLA Pushpa Sreevani is ashamed of being in the YSRCP party, a realization she came to after several days (translated to English)." Archived versions of such posts can be accessed here, here, and here. 

However, these posts are misleading; the video dates back to 2018 and shows the MLA criticizing the then-governing Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

Screenshot of the viral claim about MLA Pushpa Sreevani. (Source: X/Screenshot)

What are the facts?

A reverse image search of keyframes from the video led to a 2018 HMTV news report in Telugu. Published on September 5, 2018, the report titled “MLA Pushpa Sreevani gets emotional” features the same footage. It describes how Sreevani was moved by the treatment of tribals in a hospital, questioning the 40-year tenure of then-Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.

Screenshot of the HMTV news report from September 2018. (Source: HMTVlive.com/Screenshot)

This video was also published on two YouTube channels on September 5, 2018.

With the video resurfacing, MLA Sreevani issued a video clarification on her social media accounts. She stated that the clip being circulated by "TDP groups" misrepresented her comments about the current Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and YSRCP leader Jagan Reddy’s governance. She clarified that the video is five years old and pertains to an incident in Salur about the treatment of tribal girls during the TDP's rule.

What had happened to tribal girls in 2018?

A report by The Hindu published on September 5, 2018, titled “14 tribal school students admitted to hospital,” reported on the conditions faced by 14 students from the Kothavalasa Ashram School after they were admitted to the Saluru Community Hospital in Vizianagaram district. They presented with drug allergy symptoms and high fever. The Hindu also published a photo of the girls on the floor, receiving saline from a shared dispenser. This image also went viral in 2018.

A report published by The Hindu in September 2018 on the treatment of tribal girls at the Saluru Community Hospital. (Source: The Hindu/Screenshot)

The verdict

An old video from 2018, showing YSRCP MLA Pushpa Sreevani criticizing the TDP government's inadequate health facilities for tribals in Vijayanagaram, has been misrepresented as recent. It has been circulated with the false insinuation that she spoke ill of Jagan Reddy and the YSRCP government. Therefore, we have marked this claim as misleading.