The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, recently shared a cropped video of opposition leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, falsely claiming that it shows him discarding charanamrit (Hindu religious offering) after receiving it from a priest during a Hindu celebration.
In the 18-second video, which loops three times, the same visuals of Reddy rotating his hand over his head, while his wife is seen drinking charanamrit after receiving it from the priests.
BOOM found a longer version of the video, where Reddy can be clearly seen drinking charanamrit, before rotating his hand around his head. The video shared by TDP crops out the portion showing him consuming the religious offering to falsely imply that he refused to take it.
Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy recently urged devotees throughout Andhra Pradesh to join special poojas on September 28. Reddy's call comes in response to concerns about the sanctity of the Tirumala Tirupati temple, which he claimed was maligned by the current Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu, following the latter's claim of animal fat and fish oil being used in the preparation of laddus at the revered temple.
Amid this, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), an ally of the TDP at the center, criticised the YSRCP president, demanding that he declare his faith before entering the Tirumala temple on September 28.
The TDP shared the video on its official social media platforms, accompanied by a message in Telugu that roughly translates to, "If Tirumala laddu is given as prasad, the smell is left. Setting up a temple in the house, if you give a tirdha there, you act like you are drunk and throw it down. Not giving silk clothes along with sati on any day. Jagan Reddy has defiled Swami personally for the past 5 years."
(Original Text in Telugu: తిరుమల లడ్డూ ప్రసాదంగా ఇస్తే, వాసన చూడటం వదిలేయటం. ఇంట్లో గుడి సెట్టింగ్ వేసుకోవటం, అక్కడ తీర్ధం ఇస్తే తాగినట్టు యాక్షన్ చేసి కింద పోసేయటం. ఏ నాడు సతీ సమేతంగా పట్టు వస్త్రాలు ఇవ్వక పోవటం. గత 5 ఏళ్ళ వ్యక్తిగతంగా కూడా స్వామి వారిని అపవిత్రం చేసాడు జగన్ రెడ్డి)
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Fact Check
BOOM performed a relevant keyword search and found a longer version of the viral footage broadcast by the Telugu news outlet Sakshi TV on January 14, 2024, showing former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy attending Sankranti celebrations.
Upon comparing with the original news bulletin, we observed that the video shared by the TDP crops out the portion where Reddy accepts and drinks charanamrit from the priest.
The entire footage of Reddy accepting and drinking charanamrit alongside his wife begins at the 2:58-minute mark in the original video. However, the viral clip only shows the portion from 3:00 to 3:05 minutes.
Visuals of Reddy drinking charanamrit at the 2:59 minute mark
According to a report by The Hindu, then chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and his wife Y.S. Bharati participated in the Sankranti celebrations at his camp office in Tadepalli on January 14, 2024. The report further added that the couple worshipped cows at the Goshala and offered prayers at the Vinayaka, Venkateswara Swamy, and Kanaka Durga temples, in addition to giving present to a Haridasu and the Sankranti Gangireddulu.
The YSR Congress Party also condemned the TDP's claim and criticised them for sharing an edited video from their official X account. Their post from September 22, 2024, can be seen below.