Edited video shared as TDP leader endorsing Visakhapatnam as Andhra Pradesh’s capital

What is the claim?

On May 7, 2024, amid the ongoing Indian general election, Sajjala Bhargava Reddy, media and social media coordinator of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), the party in power in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, posted a 36-second clip on his X (formerly Twitter) account (archive here). The post claimed that it shows the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha candidate from the Opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Sribharat Mathukumilli, endorsing the YSRCP’s position and supporting that Visakhapatnam be made the capital of the state rather than the current capital on paper, Amaravati.

“YSRCP words from the mouth of Visakhapatnam TDP candidate. We are also saying the same…It would cost thousands of crores for infrastructure development in Amaravati. If the same amount is invested in Visakhapatnam it would beat all the capitals of the surrounding states,” Reddy wrote.

This video was widely shared over social media platforms. Further, the Telugu language news channel Sakshi (archive here), associated with Andhra Pradesh chief minister and head of the YSRCP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, also shared the same claim based on the viral video clip.

Screenshot of the viral social media post (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

The TDP is contesting the Indian general election and the state Assembly election in alliance with the Jana Sena Party (JSP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The state is headed to the polls for both on Monday, May 13.

In the video, Bharat, as the leader is also known, can be heard saying in Telugu, “We don’t have that much money to develop Amaravati at that scale. Visakhapatnam develops swiftly. With the development of Visakhapatnam, the development of Andhra Pradesh would be swift. A lot of investment is required to develop Amaravati. The state government is not in a position to make that investment. During 2014-19, when TDP was in power, the debt of the state reached around 3.5 lakh crores. We are not in a situation to invest thousands of crores in Amaravati. What we look at is what the growth engine is. Visakhapatnam is one growth engine. Amaravati is a twenty-year story. We cannot do it immediately.”

However, the video has been created using clips from a longer video to make it appear that Bharat is endorsing Visakhapatnam over Amaravati as the state’s capital. The leader actually maintained that Amaravati would remain the capital while Visakhapatnam would also continue to be developed if the TDP were to come to power.

What did we find?

We observed that the video has multiple jump cuts, which hints towards the fact that it could be edited. Following this, we looked for the original video through a reverse image and a keyword search.

This led us to Bharat’s interview conducted by an Instagram influencer, ‘vizagforever’, that was uploaded on their page (archive here) on May 7. In this nearly seven-minute video, Bharat answers various questions about the development of Visakhapatnam if he is elected to power.

At the 3:35 time stamp of this video, the interviewer asked Bharat, “What will the capital of Andhra Pradesh be?” To this, Bharat gives a long answer in a mix of English and Telugu, first saying, “That is very clear. The stand of the TDP and the alliance is that it will be Amaravati,” he says.

Referring to several countries, he noted that while a particular city may be larger or more “happening”, a different city is the capital, mentioning Bombay-Delhi, New York-Washington D.C., and Canberra-Sydney as examples to explain why Amaravati could remain the capital while also developing Visakhapatnam. “It is a myth, it is a lie that only a capital will be a developed city,” he added. He then pointed out that TDP has, in the past, worked to make Visakhapatnam the fintech hub, adding that the party would continue to develop it.

However, he reiterated that this does not mean a change in the capital of the state. “As far as the capital of the state is concerned, Amaravati is the capital…Every party agreed for the capital to be set up in Amaravati. But, unfortunately, after the change of government, YSRCP changed its stance. But Amaravati will be the capital. But today, we don’t have much money to develop Amaravati. We don’t have that much money to develop Amaravati at that scale. Visakhapatnam develops swiftly. With the development of Visakhapatnam, the development of Andhra Pradesh would be swift,” he said.

The interviewer then asked if the TDP would focus on developing Amaravati if elected. To this, Bharat replied, “A lot of investment is required to develop Amaravati. The state government is not in a position to make that investment. During 2014-19, when TDP was in power, the debt of the state reached around 3.5 lakh crores. We are not in a situation to invest thousands of crores in Amaravati. Today, it has reached close to 13 lakh crores. As the state debt has grown astronomically, there is no money to develop Amaravati. We should not kill Amaravati. They (referring to YSRCP) are trying to kill it. Don’t kill it. Develop the basic infrastructure. That will attract private investment. We are not in a position to invest thousands of crores in Amaravati. What we look at is what the growth engine is. Visakhapatnam is one growth engine. Rajahmundry is a growth engine. Tirupati is a growth engine. Vijayawada is a growth engine. We have to develop the existing cities and thereby increase the state revenue. Amaravati is a twenty-year story. We cannot do it immediately.”

It is very clear from the longer video that Bharat stressed multiple times that Amaravati would remain the capital of Andhra Pradesh and did not say or insinuate that Visakhapatnam would be a better capital. While doing so, he spoke about the overall development of the state, including cities such as Visakhapatnam and several others, which he referred to as “potential growth engines”.

Several sections of the original video, covering Bharat’s answers to two different questions, have been edited together to make it appear that he endorses Vishakaptanam as the capital.

Previously too, Sribharat has spoken about Amaravati being retained as the capital of the state as well as the necessity of developing Visakhapatnam alongside.

The row over Andhra Pradesh’s capital

After the composite state of Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in 2014, a cluster of villages in the Guntur district of the state was selected as the site for the development of a greenfield capital city, and the cluster was named Amaravati. Construction of the capital city began during 2014-19 when the TDP was in power.

However, after the YSRCP came into power in 2019, they decided that the state would have three capitals: Amaravati, Visakhapatnam, and Kurnool. However, the Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down this plan in 2022, a decision which the Supreme Court refused to stay, ordering that Amaravati be the sole capital. Interestingly, the YSRCP government had withdrawn its legislation on the formation of three capitals in November 2021.

During the election canvassing, while TDP is campaigning for Amaravati as the sole capital, YSRCP is promoting their plan of having three capitals.

The verdict

A video of Telugu Desam Party Lok Sabha candidate from Visakhapatnam, M Sribharat, is being shared to claim that the leader is now endorsing Visakhapatnam as the capital of Andhra Pradesh. However, this video has been edited. Therefore, we have marked this claim as misleading.

This story was originally published by Logically Facts and republished by OrissaPOST as part of the Shakti Collective.