Fact Check: Jubilee Hills bypoll – Fake Telugu news clippings spread misinformation about BRS, Congress leaders

Hyderabad: In the run-up to the Jubilee Hills by-election, purported images of Telugu newspaper clippings are circulating on social media about the Congress and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) parties.

The by-election is scheduled to be held on November 11, necessitated by the death of sitting BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath in June this year. The party fielded Maganti Sunitha, wife of the late MLA, as its candidate, while the Congress candidate for the constituency is Naveen Yadav.

How fake newspaper clippings imitate real ones to spread lies

These viral newspaper clippings are designed to resemble real publications. The newspaper layouts, title fonts and key points, as well as design elements are imitated to give the feel of a genuine newspaper.

The technique of propagating fake news using the design of real newspapers is nothing new. However, with the Jubilee Hills bypoll being only days away, social media is flooding with such fake news clippings.

Layouts of famous Telugu dailies, Prabhata Velugu, Eenadu and Andhra Jyothi, are copied completely to fabricate the newspaper clippings, sometimes with small changes.

Such fabricated newspaper clippings often include minor edits, like adding the prefix ‘Mana’ or altering datelines. The intent is to mislead readers into believing the content was published by credible newspapers and to influence voter perception ahead of elections.

NewsMeter has previously debunked similar fake newspaper clippings circulating false information in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. You can read the detailed report here.

Clipping 1

The Telugu newspaper clipping title reads, ‘No benefit from KTR…Congress to win’. It claims that the party’s working president, KT Rama Rao (KTR), has informed party chief K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) that the party would face a setback in the prestigious Jubilee Hills by-election. The news report has the images of KTR and KCR.

The clipping does not state any names of people who supposedly revealed the information; it only cites that the information is from ‘highly reliable sources’.

The newspaper clipping features the name ‘Mana Eenadu’, with ‘Mana’ in a small font. The day is mentioned as Saturday. However, it is unclear whether it is dated as October 26 or 25. It also mentions ‘Volume 52 Issue 74’. The location tag is ‘Karimnagar’. A link to a website is also mentioned.

An X user shared the clipping and highlighted some points from the alleged news report: “KCR stays away from Jubilee Hills campaign.. Appointing KTR as in-charge has been futile, the party has become even weaker.. Surveys and polls all favor Congress.. KCR believes it’s best to stay away from the campaign.. BRS ranks say that since they didn’t win a single seat in Parliament anyway, there’s no loss even if they lose now.. (sic)” (Archive)

Clipping 2

The title of the second clipping reads, ‘You are the one ruining the party from within… Because of you, we are losing, KTR’.

The report claimed that BRS leader Harish Rao lashed out at KTR during a meeting in a farmhouse, expressing his anger over Hyderabad Youth Committee’s Salman Khan joining the party ahead of the bypoll.

The report stated that Harish Rao lashed out at KTR at the farmhouse meeting, saying, ‘We will be losing in Jubilee Hills because of the inclusion of criminals and people with POCSO cases in the party, and the party will be destroyed because of you.’

This report also does not mention the sources, only citing that the information was revealed by ‘highly reliable sources’.

The name of the newspaper outlet that published this report is written as ‘Mana Andhra Jyothi’, with ‘Mana’ in a small font. It is dated October 26, Sunday, with the location tagged as ‘Guntur’, Volume is 23 and Issue is 229. A link to a website is also mentioned.

An X user shared the newspaper clipping and mentioned some points from the report: “We are losing the Jubilee Hills by-election… Harish Rao… Harish Rao vs KTR in the farmhouse!... You are the one who is ruining the party from afar... We are losing because of you!” – Harish Rao’s comment… Internal disputes in BRS exposed” (Translated from Telugu) (Archive)

Clipping 3

The Telugu e-paper features the title ‘The Gulabi leader said, I won’t come to campaign because we will lose.”

The alleged report, shared in an X post, stated, “BRS chief and former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) has put an end to speculation, saying that he is staying away from the Jubilee Hills by-election campaign. Sensational comments made by him are creating a stir in the top leadership of the ‘Gulabi Party’. Reliable sources say that KCR made these comments to key party leaders in a highly confidential internal meeting held recently at his farmhouse in Erravalli.” (Translated from Telugu) (Archive)

The name of the newspaper outlet that published the report is mentioned as ‘Mana Prabhata Velugu’, with ‘Mana’ in a small font. It is dated October 27, Monday. The page number is 3.

Clipping 4

The viral newspaper clipping contains the title, ‘Must give Rs 10 crores..! Naveen Yadav threatens three film producers for Jubilee Hills election funds.’

It states that Congress candidate Naveen Yadav threatened three film producers, demanding Rs 10 crore each for Jubilee Hills by-election expenses. “Revanth Reddy spoke to the producers in a phone call from Delhi and suggested giving Rs 7 crores. Naveen Yadav backed down after Revanth Reddy’s words and reportedly collected Rs 21 crores from the producers,” read the newspaper clipping.

The newspaper clipping carries the logo of the Telugu news outlet Velugu, the date of publication and a link to the e-paper.

Sharing the newspaper clipping on X, a user wrote, “Rs 10 crore must be paid..! Naveen Yadav threatened three film producers for Jubilee Hills election expenses. Producers pleaded they couldn’t pay that much. Naveen Yadav reluctantly agreed. The money dispute reached CM Revanth Reddy, suggesting Rs 7 crore.” (Translated from Telugu) (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the viral claim is false. All Telugu newspaper clippings are fabricated.

Newspaper clipping 1

There are no news reports or credible social media posts about any internal reports submitted by KTR regarding the Jubilee Hills bypoll.

We checked the website link (www.manaeenadu.net) and found no valid content or usable information. The official website of the Press Registrar General of India did not contain any information regarding the ‘Mana Eenadu’ news outlet.

We also checked the Eenadu Volume 52, Issue 74, Karimnagar edition, published on October 25. The main page contained a full-page advertisement. It did not feature any story by the title ‘No benefit from KTR… Congress to win’.

This hinted that the clipping might be fake.

This was confirmed by BRS spokesperson Krishank, who told NewsMeter it is a fake newspaper clipping. He said, “Congress party cries foul about fake news on social media, CM Revanth Reddy preaches against it, but what are they doing?”

He further stated, “Using media institutions and fabricating such a newspaper clipping is a crime. The image of KCR used in that clipping shows him crying. Why would a news organisation like Eenadu use that image of KCR?”

It is clear that the viral newspaper clipping by ‘Mana Eenadu’ is fabricated using the format of the Telugu daily ‘Eenadu’.

Newspaper clipping 2

Using keyword searches, we did not find any news reports or credible social media posts stating that Harish Rao has criticised KTR, blaming him for the loss the party will face in the bypoll.

The link (www.manaandhrajyothi.com) mentioned in the newspaper clipping does not contain any information. The official website of the Press Registrar General of India does not contain any information regarding the ‘Mana Andhra Jyothi’ news outlet.

We also checked the Andhra Jyothi Guntur edition published on October 26. The main page is completely different from the viral newspaper clipping. The newspaper does not have any report about Harish Rao criticising KTR ahead of the Jubilee Hills bypoll.

The BRS spokesperson called it a fake newspaper clipping and said that there is no truth in the viral claim.

The newspaper clipping by ‘Mana Andhra Jyothi’ is created using the format of ‘Andhra Jyothi’.

Newspaper clipping 3

There are no newspaper clippings or social media posts regarding KCR’s supposed statements about not taking part in the BRS party campaign in Jubilee Hills.

The Press Registrar General of India's official website does not contain any details of a newspaper by the name ‘Mana Prabhata Velugu’.

We also checked the Prabhata Velugu newspaper published on October 27. Page No. 3 is completely different from the viral newspaper clipping. The newspaper does not have any report talking about KCR declining to campaign in the Jubilee Hills constituency, citing that the BRS is going to lose in the bypoll.

The BRS spokesperson told NewsMeter that this newspaper clipping is also fake and said that KCR has never made such remarks. When asked about KCR’s participation in the bypoll campaign, he said, “We are completely confident about winning the bypoll. KTR, Harish Rao, cluster in-charges, booth in-charges, our entire machinery is involved in the campaign. Congress is making fake news about KCR not joining, but Revanth Reddy himself has not joined the campaign till now. Rest assured, we are all following the expertise of KCR in these elections.”

The viral newspaper clipping is fabricated using the format of the ‘Prabhata Velugu’ newspaper. The supposed news reports have not been published by any news organisation.

Newspaper clipping 4

There are no news reports published by the Velugu news website stating that Naveen Yadav has extorted money from film producers to fund the election campaign in Jubilee Hills.

We contacted Naveen Yadav’s team, who told NewsMeter that the clipping is fake and confirmed that such a news report does not exist on the Velugu news website.

Naveen Yadav’s team member said that the Congress candidate has never sought money from anyone.

The Telugu newspaper clipping is fabricated.

Other News Clippings

NewsMeter has debunked viral claims using newspaper clippings spreading false information about Congress in the past. You can read one of the reports here.

A newspaper clipping claimed that Congress candidate Naveen Yadav made communally sensitive comments targeting the Muslim community. It claimed that Naveen Yadav said, “Instead of offering namaz, take bath everyday”, during the election campaign in Jubilee hills.

NewsMeter found that the newspaper clipping was designed using the layout of reports published by Eenadu newsclippings. A member of Naveen Yadav’s team told us that he never made the remarks and explained that Naveen Yadav started his political career in the Owaisi-led AIMIM.

You can read the detailed report here.

All the viral Telugu newspaper clippings are found to be made using the format of Eenadu, Andhra Jyothi and Prabhata Velugu newspapers. Therefore, NewsMeter concludes that viral claims are false.