Fabricated news report shared to claim Telangana Congress workers assaulted TDP members

What is the claim?

The Indian National Congress emerged victorious in the Assembly elections in the south Indian state of Telangana, which were held on November 30. The swearing-in ceremony of the new government with A. Revanth Reddy, as the chief minister, was held at LB Stadium in Hyderabad on December 7.

In that context, a screenshot purportedly showing a post by Way2News- a Hyderabad-based news app - is being shared on social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook with the claim that Congress cadres assaulted Telugu Desam Party (TDP) members for bringing party flags to the ceremony. TDP is the main opposition party in the neighboring state of Andhra Pradesh and has a presence in Telangana, and Andaman and the Nicobar Islands. It had not contested the Telangana elections.

Archived versions of the posts sharing the purported Way2News article can be viewed here, here, and here. 

The title of the purported article, in Telugu, reads, “TDP flags in the stadium. Beaten black and blue by the Congress cadre.” According to the purported article, the TDP cadre brought their flags to the ceremony, prompting the Congress workers to assault the former. It goes on to state that the senior leaders of Congress were unhappy over TDP members bringing their flags to the event.

Screenshot of the purported Way2News article shared on social media. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, this is not a genuine report published by Way2News.  

What did we find?

We could not find any such report published by Way2News.

On observing the viral screenshot, we noticed that the date mentioned at the end of the purported article read “November 29, 2023.” However, elections in Telangana were held on November 30, and the oath-taking ceremony took place on December 7. The report, therefore, predates the swearing-in ceremony. 

Discrepancies in the purported news article. (Source: X/Screenshot)

We also noticed that the time of publishing of the purported article, as shown in the screenshot, was “01:55 pm.” However, Way2News capitalizes am and pm (AM and PM, respectively) in all their articles.

Capitalized am and pm used regularly in Way2News news articles. (Source: Way2News/Screenshots)

We also noted that Way2News adds a hyperlink to the article right below the image in their in-app posts. We checked this feature with other articles on the app and found that the link always directs users to the related article. The viral screenshot, too, had a URL. However, when we followed the link, it led us to an article on cricket. Published on August 10, 2023, this Telugu article is headlined “Batters who scored the highest in the List-A Cricket.” The article lists cricketers such as Narayan Jagadeesan, Rohit Sharma, and Shikhar Dhawan, along with their scores. We found no mention of the Telangana Congress cadre allegedly assaulting TDP members for carrying their flags during the oath-taking ceremony.

The article that opens on clicking the weblink provided in the purported report. (Source: Way2News/Screenshot)

Further, Way2News, in a post shared on its X account, clarified that it did not publish any such report.

The verdict

A fabricated screenshot purporting to show a news report published by Way2News has been shared with the claim that the Congress workers beat up TDP members for carrying party flags to the oath-taking ceremony of the new government of Telangana. Therefore, we have marked this claim as fake.