No, Revanth Reddy didn't say Congress will cut off power supply if elected in Telangana

What is the claim?

The south Indian state of Telangana is set to vote for a new government on November 30. While the campaigning is going on vigorously, misinformation about political parties and figures is spreading rapidly on social media. As part of the campaigning, a political spat is underway between the incumbent Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the opposition Congress over electricity supply in Karnataka, where Congress was elected only a few months ago. 

In this context, a 16-second video is being shared on social media showing Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President Revanth Reddy addressing a public meeting and saying, in Telugu, “Wherever we saw yesterday, if Congress is elected to power, son, your power supply will be discontinued. Listen, son, I am saying as and when Congress is elected to power, the power supply will be discontinued, your motors will be burnt, and your transformers will blow up.” Archived versions of the posts sharing the video can be viewed here and here. 

The video has been shared with the title, “Revanth Reddy’s sensational comments. Losing his tongue, Revanth said that when Congress comes to power, the power supply will be discontinued, and fuses will be removed (translated).”

However, this video is edited. Three clips have been digitally stitched together to make a misleading statement.

What did we find?

We found several jump cuts in the viral video, and parts of it are also incoherent. 

We then ran the keyframes of the video through a reverse-image search and found the original video of Reddy’s speech. The video was shared by Telugu news channels like NTV Telugu and V6 News Telugu. 

Reddy was speaking at a ‘Congress Jana Sabha’ (Congress People’s Meeting) held in Wardhannapeta on November 14, in Telangana, as part of the party’s poll campaign, and several Telugu channels had live-streamed this meeting. 

We found that three separate clippings from this original speech have been edited together to create the viral clip. While the first part of the viral video (0:01-0:03) can be viewed between the 42:28-42:32 mark in the NTV Telugu livestream video, the second part (0:03-0:07) runs between 42:38-42:42, and the third bit between 42:53-43:00.

In the original speech, Reddy says in Telugu: “BRS people are going around and saying, ‘If Congress comes to power, there will be no electricity in the state.’ I want to tell those idiots — you, KCR, KTR, and Harishrao — that as and when Congress comes to power, son, I will cut your power. When Congress comes to power, I will cut the power of KCR, KTR, Harishrao, and Kavita Rao. Listen, you people, your motors will be burnt, your transformers will be blown up.”

KCR here refers to K Chandrasekhar Rao, the incumbent Chief Minister of Telangana. KTR is K Taraka Ramarao, KCR’s son and incumbent Information Technology Minister. Harish Rao is KCR’s nephew and incumbent minister holding health and finance portfolios. Kavitha Rao is KCR’s daughter and a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC). 

Revanth Reddy was referring to KCR’s family when he said he would ‘cut their power’ supply as and when Congress is elected to power in Telangana. The portion of the speech where he was referring to them by taking their names was edited out to make it appear he made a remark directed at the general public. 

The verdict

A video of a public meeting of Revanth Reddy has been digitally edited to claim that Congress would discontinue power supply if it is elected in upcoming elections in Telangana. Therefore, we have marked this claim false.