A video clip of a news report by ABP News is being widely shared across social media platforms (here, here, here, and here), claiming that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, has just broken its alliance recently (in 2024) with the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh. In this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: “Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP has just broken its alliance with the NDA” – ABP News video clip of 2024.
Fact: This viral video clip dates back to 2018 and pertains to Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP leaving the BJP-led NDA in March 2018, when the NDA government did not grant special status to Andhra Pradesh. There are no recent reports or developments about Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP is planning to leave the BJP-led NDA government. Hence the claim made in the post is Misleading.
This viral video clip from ABP News, claiming that Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP has just broken its alliance with the NDA, actually dates back to 2018. At that time, just before the 2019 general elections, Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP left the NDA, demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh. It should be noted that Naidu had formed an alliance with the BJP-led NDA in the 2014 elections but exited in March 2018 when the NDA government did not grant special status to Andhra Pradesh. Chandrababu Naidu lost in the 2019 Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections but rejoined the NDA before the 2024 general elections, winning a significant number of parliamentary seats and in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections.
In June 2024, the BJP-led NDA formed the government for the third consecutive term. The BJP won 240 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, becoming the single largest party but falling short of the majority needed to form the government. With support from its NDA allies, the BJP crossed the majority mark and formed the government. Among the NDA allies, TDP (16 MPs) and JD(U) (12 MPs) hold the largest number of seats after the BJP (here).
To verify the accuracy of the viral claim, we conducted a relevant keyword search. However, our search yielded no credible reports supporting the claim. If such a development had occurred, it would have certainly garnered significant media attention. Additionally, we checked the official social media accounts of the TDP and Chandrababu Naidu (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, & here) but found no posts supporting the viral claim.
To learn more about this viral video clip, we conducted a Google reverse image search using keyframes from the video. This search led us to the same video clip uploaded on the official YouTube channels of ABP News in March 2018 (here, here). According to this news report, Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which was adamant in its demand for special status for Andhra Pradesh, had decided to break its alliance with the NDA, and two TDP cabinet ministers in the Modi government were set to resign. From this information, it is clear that the viral video is old and pertains to Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP exiting the BJP-led NDA in March 2018, when the NDA government did not grant special status to Andhra Pradesh.
To sum up, an old ABP News video clip is being falsely shared to claim that Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP has recently in 2024 broken its alliance with the BJP-led NDA.
