Old video of Prakash Raj edited to claim he asked people not to vote for Congress in Karnataka elections

Context

An old video of actor and politician Prakash Raj saying, "Don't waste your vote on Congress," is being widely circulated on social media amid the ongoing Karnataka state elections. A Twitter user named Rupa Murty posted the video with the caption, “Dear Karnataka, Prakasha has asked you all to NOT waste your votes on Congress. He is offended by the dirty politics of the Congress party. So please vote for BJP." However, this video has been clipped and shared with a misleading claim.

In Fact

Logically Facts found a longer version of the viral video that was shared by the actor in 2019. Raj posted the video on April 17, 2019, before the Lok Sabha elections that year. In the longer video, the actor and politician says that Congress leader Rizwan Arshad's personal assistant was citing an old image of him meeting Arshad, and spreading false propaganda that he supports the party.

Raj clarifies in the video that he is an independent candidate, and that he takes “serious offense of this dirty politics” by the Congress.

The viral video edited a part of Raj's statement. Raj had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate from Bangalore Central constituency. His video was to clarify that he is contesting the elections independently and is not aligned with any party.

The viral video has no links to the current Karnataka elections. Raj has made no recent comments asking people not to vote for the Congress. 

Many false and misleading narratives are circulating on social media in the backdrop of the Karnataka elections. Logically Facts has debunked similar claims associated with the elections.

The Verdict

An old video of Raj from 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections is being shared out of context and is being falsely linked to the current Karnataka elections. Therefore, we have marked this claim as misleading.