Did BJP Workers Distribute Alcohol at PM Modi's Rally In Hyderabad, Telangana? No, Viral Video Is Misleading!

Prime Minister Modi held a rally in Hyderabad on Sunday, July 3. In this context, a video has gone viral with a claim that alcohol was distributed by the BJP workers in Telangana during the rally.

The 'Vijay Sankalp Sabha' was held at Parade Grounds in Hyderabad and it witnessed participation from over a lakh people, as per news reports. The rally was held in the run-up to the upcoming elections in Telangana in 2023.

Claim:

Lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan shared a 29 seconds video which has gathered 10.7k likes till the time of writing. The video shows men wearing BJP scarves and caps pouring out alcohol into cups held by people. The cameraperson shows different people pouring alcohol into cups held by people gathering around. The viral posts claim that during the recent rally held by PM Modi in Hyderabad, Telangana, BJP workers distributed alcohol and snacks to entice voters to attend the rally.

The translated caption reads, "Wow Modi ji, your party has turned Telangana into Goa too! What fun they are having!"

Kirti Azad, the former member of Lok Sabha, also tweeted the video. The translated caption reads, "Inside PM Narendra Modi's speech goes on while outside BJP workers are indulging in alcohol and kebabs, in honour of Mother India. This is the reality of their Hindu religion. It is not even worth ridicule, it is the culmination of shamelessness."

The video is viral on both Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim.

Fact Check:

The Logical Indian fact check team verified the viral claim and found it to be misleading. The viral video is from 2021.

On close examination of the video, we were able to notice two images in the bottom right and left corners. The image on the left bottom corner shows PM Modi while the image on the right corner shows a person who is presumably Bandi Sanjay Kumar, the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Telangana. This visual content implies that the viral video is somehow connected to the rally that took place in Hyderabad, Telangana.

To examine whether the video is actually from Telangana, we then used InVid's Keyframe analysis tool to isolate the keyframes of the video. We conducted a reverse image search on one of the isolated keyframes which led us to a report by The News Minute. The title of the report reads, "Andhra BJP chief promises to sell liquor at Rs 50 if voted to power". It talks about BJP Andhra Pradesh chief Somu Veerraju promising that the state's BJP unit would provide cheap liquor if elected to power. All of you one-crore people vote for BJP, we will offer you cheap liquor at Rs 75. If the revenues are good, we will even supply at just Rs 50, liquor of good quality," the report quotes Veerraju as saying.

The report contains a tweet uploaded on December 29, 2021, by user @KakralaLaddy in which similar footage can be seen. The caption connects the incident of alcohol distribution in the video to comments made by BJP Andhra Pradesh chief Somu Veerraju on December 29, 2021.

We then conducted a keyword search with terms such as 'शराब and 'भाजपा' (Alcohol and BJP) across social media and came across this tweet by Srinivas BV, the National President of the Indian Youth Congress. The translated caption of the tweet reads, "Collective Efforts Inclusive Growth - Everyone's alcohol!"

The official Twitter handle of the Uttar Pradesh unit of the Indian National Congress unit had also tweeted the video as well on December 20, 2021. The translated caption of the tweet reads, "Narendra Modi is distributing a painkiller. Is everything all right?"

Imran Pratapgarhi, a member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha also tweeted the video on December 20, 2021, which reads, " BJP is in a bad condition. They are distributing liquor to mobilize the crowd."

The social media posts indicate that the incident took place in Uttar Pradesh. We then conducted another keyword search for ascertaining where the video was filmed.

We came across this report by Dainik Bhaskar published in December 2021. The report mentions Congress leaders stating that the incident took place after BJP leader JP Nadda's rally in Haridwar, Uttarakhand.

As per another report by LiveHindustan published on December 20th, 2021, the incident took place in the lead-up to the UP Assembly Elections held from February to March 2022. The report also notes that no BJP leader had responded to claims made by the Congress leaders in the viral video.

After a keyword search on YouTube, we came across this video published by TEN News on December 22, 2021. In the video, Youth Congress leader Srinivas B.V. can be heard saying that the incident of alcohol distribution took place in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. His statement can be heard from 0.18 in the video. "See how in Haridwar, just to entice crowds such a big shop of alcohol has been established. I ask the Prime Minister to identify who these people are from what they are wearing." He then asks members of the BJP, including Smriti Irani to speak up on the incident.

Srinivas B.V is referring to the rally held by the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, J.P. Nadda on 18th December 2021. The details of the rally can be found in this Economic Times article.

Conclusion:

From our Fact Check, we found that the video showing the distribution of alcohol dates back to December 20, 2021. The video has resurfaced several times and has been linked to comments made by BJP Andhra Pradesh chief Somu Veerraju and BJP leader JP Nadda's rally in Haridwar. Congress leaders have stated that the video was filmed in Haridwar, Uttarakhand during the rally held by the president of BJP, J.P. Nadda on 18th Dec 2021, but there was no response from the BJP with regards to this claim.

We were unable to independently ascertain where the video was shot and when it was shot. However, we are able to affirm that the video was not filmed during the recent BJP rally held in Hyderabad, Telangana as claimed by the viral posts.

If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.

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