Video from Telangana shared as people criticising Chandrababu Naidu over Andhra floods

What is the claim?

A minute-long video showing flood victims outside a home is circulating on social media. The victims are heard criticizing and lamenting how their existing public representatives have ignored them, however, we hear no name of any particular representative in the viral video. This claim was shared on various platforms with a caption in Telugu that translates to: "After taking Jagan brother’s money, without any gratitude, we voted for Chandrababu Naidu. It's a big mistake — Vijayawada Public." 

In the video, a lady in blue saree says, "After everybody voted, you came to power and sat on the throne... You won, and you are sleeping. What is our situation?" The archive links of such posts can be found here, here, and here. 

The claim has emerged days after floods battered parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, both Telugu-speaking states in India. The respective state governments have taken part in flood relief operations. The depression in the Bay of Bengal resulted in incessant rains, causing floods in both regions; some of the worst-affected areas include Khammam and Mahbubabad in Telangana and Vijayawada and Guntur region in Andhra Pradesh. Telangana is ruled by the Congress government, and Andhra Pradesh is ruled by the Telugu Desam Party under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). 

However, the claim being shared with the video is false. The video is from Khammam, Telangana not from Andhra Pradesh.

Screenshot of the claim circulating online (Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

What are the facts?

We noticed a logo on the top right corner of the viral video and found that it is the logo of Mirror TV, a local YouTube channel. Taking a cue, we found a ground report by Mirror TV (archived here) on the recent flood situation with the title, "Khammam Floods Effects | Mirror TV Ground Report | CM Revanth Reddy | PublicTalk." The video was uploaded on September 4. We found that the now-viral video is from this ground report on the Khammam floods. 

At a timestamp of 34:27, we can see a lady in a blue saree speaking, as seen in the viral video. While the entire video speaks about the problems the flood victims have been facing, the now-viral video can be seen from 34:27 to 35:24. At around 35:30, the lady speaks about how their local corporator and his two sons helped them in floods.

Comparison of the viral video and the original video (Source: X/YouTube)

Further in the same video, at a timestamp of around 33:00, we can see another resident questioning a minister elected from Khammam, Tummala Nageswara Rao (Handloom and Textiles Minister), on why he did not promptly respond when people were trapped on the rooftop of buildings in the floods and the videos of the same had gone viral. At a time stamp of 33:34, we hear the resident also asking, "We question what the local minister has done in this situation for us. Where is the minister Ponguleti Srinivas, who often speaks about Khammam, sleeping?" Srinivas is the minister of Information and Public Relations of Telangana.

Logically Facts also contacted Mirror TV reporter Pandari Goud who was seen in the YouTube video. Goud confirmed to Logically Facts that this video was taken in Khammam. He said, "The ground report was also telecasted live on our channel on September 4, 2024. This colony, Venkateshwara Nagar, was one of the worst-affected areas, and the residents in that area have suffered a lot with water reaching the first floor of their residences, so we thought of doing a ground report on the aftermath situation of the flood."

The politics over Khammam floods

The Khammam floods took a political turn when opposition leaders started criticizing the government for not alerting the public at the right time. There are also news reports that residents of Khammam district were openly criticizing the government for not protecting the area from flooding despite the region having three ministers in the state cabinet. Comparisons were also drawn with the previous minister, Puvvada Ajay Kumar, who reportedly alerted the public to move out from the low-lying areas previously ahead of flood warnings.

The verdict

A video of flood victims from the Khammam district criticizing Telangana officials has been misrepresented as scenes from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh.