2018 news clip of Chandrababu Naidu exiting NDA shared as recent

What is the claim?

A clip of a news segment is being shared on social media, claiming that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has broken its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The news clip states that the alliance was dissolved due to the failure to grant special status to Andhra Pradesh and that two central ministers from the TDP are set to resign. Social media users have been sharing this clip as a recent political development.

A user on X (formerly Twitter) posted the clip with the caption, "The game has begun.." The post has received more than 3,000 reposts and over 9,000 likes so far. Another user shared a screenshot of the news clip, writing, "After Chandrababu Naidu, Nitish may also make a move... Tomorrow, (TDP) two ministers of Chandrababu Naidu will resign from the NDA!" The archived version of the post can be seen here. Other similar posts can be found here and here.

Screenshots of viral posts. (Source: X/Screenshot)

With 16 seats, TDP is a crucial coalition partner in the BJP-led government at the center.

However, the viral news clip is not recent but from 2018, when Naidu's party broke its alliance with the BJP-led alliance.

What we found

By searching with relevant keywords, we found that the viral news clip was uploaded to ABP News' YouTube channel on March 7, 2018 (archived here), confirming that this is not a recent event but is more than six years old.

The report states Naidu had broken ties with the NDA due to the failure to grant special status to Andhra Pradesh. The report also stated that two central ministers from TDP would resign.

An NDTV report from March 16, 2018, mentioned that TDP dealt a significant blow to the BJP ahead of the 2019 general elections by breaking the alliance. Naidu’s party also planned to bring a no-confidence motion against the government in parliament. Naidu is quoted saying that he made the decision in the interest of Andhra Pradesh; saying they had tried for four years, but there was no mention of Andhra Pradesh in the central government's final budget.

We also checked whether Naidu has made any recent statements about leaving the NDA. However, no such news or official statement indicated that TDP had broken its alliance with the BJP. If this were true, it would have made major headlines. The viral news clip is old.

When did TDP previously leave the NDA?

In a June 2024 report by the Indian Express (archived here) that looked at TDP’s timeline of alliances with the NDA, it was was part of the NDA government led by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee from 1999 to 2004. Ahead of the 2014 general elections, after mediation by Akali Dal leader Naresh Gujral, Naidu rejoined the NDA. Naidu remained part of the NDA for four years until the split in 2018. He rejoined the alliance before the 2024 elections.

The verdict

Naidu's party, TDP, has not broken its alliance with the BJP-led NDA, and no ministers are resigning. The viral news clip is about six years old, dating back to 2018.