Fact Check: Amit Shah asks Chandrababu Naidu to poach DK Shivakumar amid power tussle in Karnataka? Here are the facts
A video has gone viral claiming it shows AP CM Naidu meeting Shivakumar at an airport recently amid the power struggle among Congress leaders in Karnataka.
By - Md Mahfooz Alam
Claim:The video shows AP CM Chandrababu Naidu meeting Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar after Amit Shah deputes Naidu to orchestrate the fall of the Karnataka Congress government.
Fact:The claim is false. The video of the meeting at the airport is from 2023.
Hyderabad: In Karnataka, an alleged political power tussle is playing out between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, with both leaders vying for the CM post as the Congress government crossed its halfway mark in the state.
In this context, a video of DK Shivakumar meeting the BJP ally and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu at the runway of an airport has been circulating on social media. Social media users suggest that the meeting happened recently after Union Minister Amit Shah deputed Naidu to ‘poach’ Shivakumar amid a power struggle between Congress leaders for the CM post in Karnataka.
Sharing the video, an X user wrote, “Khela Hobe (metaphorically suggesting the fall of the Karnataka Congress government). Amit Shah ji has assigned Naidu Sahab his duty. Now Karnataka is gone too.”
Sharing the video, another X user wrote, “Well, @PriyankKharge messed with @naralokesh anna and Andhrapradesh in return his govt is collapsing in Karnataka. DK Shivakumar will be in NDA soon. All Hail @ncbn. We will be having CBN-friendly governments all around us soon.”
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false, as the video is from 2023.
Source of the video
A reverse image search of the video’s keyframes led us to the video published by Live Hindustan on December 30, 2023, titled ‘DK Shivakumar Meets Chandrababu: Andhra Pradesh.’
According to the media outlet, Naidu was at the airport after attending a TDP event in Bengaluru and heading back to his home constituency, Kuppam, while Shivakumar was travelling to Nagpur to attend the Congress Foundation Day celebrations.
We also found the video published by NewsTap on December 28, 2023, titled ‘Former AP CM N. Chandrababu Naidu & Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar meet at Bengaluru airport.’
This confirmed that the video is old and is not related to the latest political developments in Karnataka.
What is the latest development in Karnataka?
On November 29, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar had breakfast together to publicly present a united front, vowing to respect whatever decision comes from the leadership at the national level. Shivakumar, in recent comments, emphasised that he has ‘no differences of opinion’ with Siddaramaiah, and that as party president in the state, he would work with everyone.
Has Naidu been deputed to poach Shivkumar or orchestrate the fall of the Karnataka government?
We conducted a keyword search but found no reports. NewsMeter does not independently verify this claim.
However, we confirm that the video of Naidu and Shivakumar at the airport is not recent but from 2023. Hence, the claim that it shows a recent meeting is false.
