No, Protesters Didn't Burn Chandrababu Naidu’s Photo for Supporting PM Modi

This video is from March 2024 and shows protests against nomination of Gummanur Jayaram as TDP candidate.

Fact-check: A false claim about protestors burning Chandrababu Naidu's photo for supporting PM Modi is going viral on social media.

(Photo: The Quint)

A video showing protestors thrashing and burning Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Chief Chandrababu Naidu's photo in Andhra Pradesh is going viral online.

The claim states that people are protesting against Naidu's decision to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Some context: Naidu-led TD-Jana Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance won majority in the state's assembly polls.

• Naidu is set to return as the Chief Minister of the state and his swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for 9 June. 

• Meanwhile, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders, including Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar and Naidu, unanimously elected PM Modi as their leader after the victory of BJP-NDA in Lok Sabha elections.

An archive of this post can be seen here.

(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)

(Archives of more claims on social media can be seen here and here.)

What's the truth?: This video predates the state election results.

• It is from March 2024 and shows a protest in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntakal over nomination of Gummanur Jayaram as TDP candidate from the assembly seat.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on some of the keyframes of viral video on Google and came across a video on YouTube shared by Telugu news channel Samayam Telugu.

• The video matched exactly with the viral one.

• This was uploaded on 29 March and the description stated that it shows Guntakal TDP workers burning Naidu's photo and protesting against Gummanur Jayaram's nomination.

• Taking a cue, we performed a relevant keyword search using 'Andhra Pradesh protests TDP nomination' on Google and came across reports from The Hindu and The New Indian Express.

• The reports also stated that in Andhra Pradesh's Guntakal too, followers of TDP leader Jithender Goud stormed into the TDP office, damaged furniture and also thrashed and burned Naidu's photo.

• As per the reports, the reason behind this protest was the allotment of TDP ticket to Gummanur Jayaram, who they said is a "non-local".

• The workers also claimed that the seat was allotted to Jayaram after he paid Rs 30 crore to the party.

This report was published on 30 March 2024.

(Source: TNIE/Screenshot)

Similar visuals from a different angle were also shared by ABP Desam.

Conclusion: A false claim about protestors burning Chandrababu Naidu's photo for supporting PM Modi is going viral on social media.

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