YSRCP leader's assault on a voter falsely shared as BJP leaders assaulting non-supporters - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 16, 2024
A video showing a man being slapped by another man, followed by a group of men attacking him, is circulating with the claim that he was assaulted because he didn’t vote for the BJP. This article fact-checks the assertion made in the post.
Claim: Video showing a man being attacked for not voting for the BJP.
Fact: The viral video shows a YSRCP leader from Andhra Pradesh slapping a voter who objected to the leader skipping the queue at a polling booth in Guntur district. This incident is unrelated to the BJP or any of its leaders. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The viral video is indeed from the 2024 elections. However, it does not show any BJP leader. A reverse image search of the screenshots from the viral video led us to several news reports that featured the same visuals.
According to these reports, the visuals depict an incident that occurred at a polling booth in Tenali, Andhra Pradesh, during the recently concluded fourth phase of the general elections (here & here). The reports suggest that the visuals capture YSR Congress Tenali MLA A. Shivakumar slapping a voter, allegedly in response to the voter’s objection to the legislator skipping queue at a polling booth in Guntur district.
The voter responded by slapping the legislator, after which the MLA’s aides joined in, launching a full-fledged assault on the voter. Several news agencies have covered the incident, highlighting that it took place in Andhra Pradesh and involved a YSRCP MLA.
As the video gained traction, the Election Commission took note of the incident and initiated a thorough investigation into the alleged attack. They directed that YSRCP MLA Siva Kumar be placed under house arrest until the conclusion of polling (here). Hence, these reports suggest that the incident was unrelated to the BJP or any of its leaders.
To sum up, a video showing a YSRCP leader slapping a voter is being shared with the false claim that the BJP is assaulting voters who do not vote for their party.