A video being shared online shows a Hindu woman attending Muslim prayers. This is shared with claims that she is SDM Nikitha Singh from Chhattisgarh (here & here). The posts allege that not only did she allocate land for a mosque, but she also ensured that prayers were conducted there. This article examines the accuracy of these claims.
Claim: A video depicts SDM Nikitha Singh from Chhattisgarh participating in Muslim prayers at a mosque for which she allocated the land.
Fact: The woman featured in the video is Vidadala Rajini, the Health Minister of Andhra Pradesh. She posted the same video on her official Facebook profile in early April 2024. According to the hashtags linked to the post, she attended Muslim prayers in the Guntur West constituency as a part of her election campaign. Additionally, our search did not reveal any SDM by the name of Nikita Singh serving in Chhattisgarh. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The video captures a Hindu woman participating in Muslim prayers, but contrary to claims, she is not an SDM. She is actually a Minister from Andhra Pradesh. A reverse image search of screenshots from the video traced it back to the same footage shared by Vidadala Rajini, the Minister of Health, Family Welfare, and Medical Education of Andhra Pradesh, on 06 April 2024.
Based on the hashtags included in the video, it appears that she participated in Muslim prayers in the Guntur West constituency as part of her election campaign. According to the reports, she is a candidate for the Guntur West constituency in the upcoming 2024 assembly elections, representing the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP). However, we could not find any reports stating Rajini donated that piece of land to the Muslim community for a mosque.
Further, a Google search using relevant keywords failed to provide any information about an officer in the rank of SDM named Nikitha Singh in Chhattisgarh. Additionally, the Chhattisgarh government website does not list any SDM by the name of Nikita Singh. Furthermore, we were unable to locate any IAS officer named Nikitha Singh in the list of IAS officers.
To sum up, the woman shown attending Muslim prayers in the video is the Health Minister of Andhra Pradesh, not an SDM from Chhattisgarh.
