Fact Check: BRS MLA candidate Maganti Gopinath’s 2018 video of interaction with angry voter linked to 2023 polls
The video is from Gopinath’s election campaign for state elections in 2018.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 23 Nov 2023 11:55 AM GMT
Screengrabs of the posts making the misleading claim. (Source: X/ @SVishnuReddy/ @HateDetectors)
Hyderabad: With Telangana going to polls on November 30, a video of Maganti Gopinath, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLA candidate from Jubilee Hills, also the constituency’s incumbent MLA, being scolded by a woman while Gopinath was canvassing door-to-door for votes is going viral on social media. Those sharing the video are using it as proof of an anti-BRS sentiment among women voters for the ensuing election.
Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, the state vice president of Andhra Pradesh BJP, shared the video and wrote, “Women’s empowerment takes centre stage in #Telangana as Jubilee Hills MLA, Maganti Gopinath, faces scrutiny from a courageous woman for neglecting public issues. Despite attempts by @BRSparty MLA and his supporters to intimidate her, the woman’s resolute resistance is a testament to the significant change that is gonna take place in the state. (sic)”
(Source: X/ @SVishnuReddy)
A premium X handle shared the video with the caption, “Women voters questions #BRSParty MLA candidate from #JubleeHills constituency #MagantiGopinath, he left without answering later #BRS Party workers arguing with women voters in loud voice and said we don’t need your votes. #TelanganaElections2023.”
(Source: X/ @HateDetectors)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the video is from Gopinath’s election campaign for state elections in 2018.
We noticed ‘TRS’ written on the pink scarf sported by the Gopinath in the video, which gave us the cue that the video could be old.
On December 5, 2022, Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao and the party supremo launched the state party into national politics after the Election Commission of India approved the name change of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
With this cue, we ran a keyword search and found the same video on YouTube, published by a verified YouTube channel, Daily Culture, on November 10, 2018. ‘Jubilee Hills Lady Gave Shock to Maganti Gopinath,’ read the title.
Another YouTube channel, Raj News Telugu Official, published a video report on November 10, 2018, showing the same visuals with the title, ‘Women Insulted Jubilee Hills TRS Ex MLA Maganti Gopinath in Election Campaign.’
Vaartha Vaani, another verified YouTube channel, also published the video on November 10, 2018, titled ‘Women Insulted Maganti Gopinath in Election Campaign.’
Hence, we conclude that the video is from 2018 and did not happen during Gopinath’s election trail for the 2023 elections. The claim is misleading.
