Fact Check: Did Chiranjeevi jump the queue while voting during 2024 Lok Sabha elections?

Hyderabad: A news clip of Telugu film star Chiranjeevi being confronted by a voter for allegedly jumping the queue at a polling station in Hyderabad has gone viral. Those sharing the video claim that the incident happened on May 13, the polling day for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Telangana.

The 14-second video shows Chiranjeevi being stopped by a voter as he and his family attempt to bypass the regular voters’ queue. In the video, the voter could be seen asking Chiranjeevi “Do you need special treatment? You must be in the queue.” The news clip shows him joining the regular queue in the end waiting for his turn to vote along with others.

“@KChiruTweets and his son RRR actor @AlwaysRamCharan questioned by common man in polling booth for breaking line good to see common man standing up and voice out these privileged. (sic),” said an X user who shared a video on May 13. (Archive)

A similar post can be seen here.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading. The video is from the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Going by the watermark of NDTV on the news clip, we began our investigation by searching for the report on the news outlet. This led us to an extended NDTV report on their YouTube channel published on May 1, 2014. The report was titled ‘Applause as NRI stops Chiranjeevi from jumping voters’ queue.’

According to the report, a voter questioned Chiranjeevi when the actor-turned-politician attempted to bypass the voting queue. “He is not 65 years of age and he is not a disabled person. So why should he get priority,” the voter who confronted Chiranjeevi told the media.

The report also had Chiranjeevi’s explanation of the incident. “There is no question of violation. I just went to crosscheck whether my name is there or not. I went to the table and asked the officers. They checked and said yes. I am not a person who violates rules,” Chiranjeevi was seen talking to the media in the NDTV news report.

The news clip also referred to Chiranjeevi as a Union minister. However, Chiranjeevi doesn't hold any Legislative post in 2024. He was the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism from 2012 to 2014 and has stayed away from active politics ever since.

We also found other reports from 2014 by Business Standard and The Times of India with similar reports on the incident. A Facebook post from April 30, 2014, also shared a video of the incident.

We also searched for other election reports on May 13 which show Chiranjeevi breaking the line. However, news reports on the polling day for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections show Chiranjeevi casting his vote without incident.

Hence, we conclude that the claim is misleading.