Fake letter claims Chandrababu Naidu asked his community to back Congress in Telangana elections

What is the context?

The south Indian state of Telangana is going to assembly polls on November 30. Amid vigorous campaigning across the board, misinformation is circulating on social media. 

A user on X (formerly Twitter) shared a photo on November 8, 2023, of a purported open letter written by N Chandrababu Naidu, addressed to members of the Kamma community, urging them to vote for Congress in the upcoming Telangana elections. N Chandrababu Naidu is the national president of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and belongs to the Kamma caste. People from this community are found predominantly in Andhra Pradesh. The purported letter also adds that Telugu Desam Party leaders control the Telangana Congress. It was shared with the caption, “Chandrababu’s letter to Kammas.” An archive of the post can be found here. 

The purported letter was shared on other social media platforms, such as Facebook, with the same claim (archive here). 

Screenshots of posts on social media (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

The TDP is the main opposition party in Andhra Pradesh and has a presence in Telangana and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The TDP has decided not to contest the upcoming elections in Telangana. 

However, the letter is fake.

What did we find?

We first looked for news reports as to whether such a letter was released by Naidu, followed by searches of both the TDP and Naidu’s social media accounts, but there were no such reports or posts. 

We then compared the viral letterhead with an official letterhead usually issued by the party and noticed several discrepancies.

Discrepancy 1: The font on the letterhead

The font of the address section at the top right on the purported letter differs from the one on the original letterhead. The space between the last line in the address on the original letterhead and the header is smaller than the one on the purported letterhead. 

Comparison between the viral letterhead and official letterhead (Source: X/Screenshots)

Discrepancy 2: The party symbol

There are discrepancies in the party symbol of the TDP on the purported letterhead. While the yellow flag on the red background on the official letterhead is slightly tilted, the flag on the viral letterhead is not. Additionally, on the official letterhead, the wheel on the flag itself has a white center, but it has merged into the yellow background on the purported letterhead. 

Comparison between the viral letterhead and the official letterhead (Source: X/Screenshots)

The TDP has used this letterhead since the second half of 2019 after moving to a new headquarters in Mangalagiri Mandal in Guntur. Before 2019, the party’s old address was written on the letterhead — Arundalpet in Guntur. However, in the previous letterhead, the font and symbol also bore no resemblance to the now-viral letter. 

Previous letterhead of Naidu with the older office address (Source: X/Screenshot)

The TDP clarified on their social media accounts that this letter was fake: "This letter is proof of Jagan’s fear of losing. Jagan, who is seeped in caste supremacy, is today egging on castes for political benefits. People, beware of these fakers' words and deeds.” 

Screenshot of the post of TDP on X clarifying the letter is fake (Source: X/JaiTDP)

The verdict

A fake letter in the name of Chandrababu Naidu has been shared as him asking members of his community to vote for the Congress in the upcoming Telangana elections. Therefore, we have marked this claim as fake.