PTI Fact Check: 6-year-old news of TDP breaking ties with BJP shared as recent with false claim

New Delhi: Months after TDP joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in a pre-poll tie-up, a social media post claimed that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has quit the the coalition as the state did not get the special status category from the Centre.

However, PTI Fact Check's investigation found it to be a false claim, and that a video report from March 2018 was being passed off as recent news.

On September 7, a video was posted on social media platform 'X', formerly Twitter, with the caption, "It's over! Now, there's full expectation of the government falling. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar recently met with Lalu Yadav, and Chandrababu Naidu broke the alliance. This is a sign of change!" Hundreds of users liked, commented on and shared this post.

The PTI Fact Check Desk performed a Google search using relevant keywords to verify the claim made in the post, but it did not show any reliable media report published recently about Telugu Desam Party breaking ties with the NDA.

A meticulous reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video using Google Lens revealed that the footage was from March 2018.

The video was, in fact, uploaded on March 7, 2018, on ABP News' official YouTube channel. The Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP had quit the NDA in March 2018.

ABP's video report said that Naidu walked away from the NDA over Andhra Pradesh's special status category. It also said that two TDP ministers resigned from the central government over the issue in 2018.

Early this year before the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state, TDP re-joined the BJP-led alliance. Palwan Kalyan's Jana Sena was also a partner in the state.

In the assembly elections, the NDA alliance won 164 out of 175 seats and Naidu became the state's chief minister for the fourth time.

Two TDP leaders got ministry berths -- one cabinet minister and a minister of state -- in the third consecutive NDA government after the party alone won 16 Lok Sabha seats in this year's elections. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal united and TDP played significant roles in the NDA crossing the majority mark as the BJP on its own fell short.