This video is not recent and predates the elections results on 4 June.
A video of Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President K Annamalai crying during delivering a speech on stage is going viral online.
Users sharing the video are claiming that this video was recorded after he lost the Coimbatore constituency in the Lok Sabha elections.
The claim states, “He worked 24×7 for 3 years. He reached to every part of Tamil Nadu. BJP vote share is now 19% in Tamil Nadu & when he took charge it was just 8%. Tears in his eyes means a lot. But he will come back. Annamalai is the future of Tamil Nadu. I love him & will always support him.” (sic)
(Archives of more claims on social media can be seen here and here.)
What’s the truth?: This video is not recent and predates the elections results on 4 June.
This video dates back to April 2024, when Annamalai became emotional during a speech in Kasturi Naickenpalayam, Coimbatore.
How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on Google along with some relevant keywords related to Annamalai and this led us to a YouTube video.
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This was shared by News18 Tamil Nadu on 17 April which predates the election results.
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Taking a cue, we performed a keyword search in Tamil language using ‘Annamalai crying on stage April’ on Google and this led us to a report by Tamil outlet Dinamalar.
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This was also published on 17 April and stated that Annamalai broke into tears on stage in Kasturi Naickenpalayam, Coimbatore.
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It also stated that he became emotional while speaking to the elderly from the village and expressed his desire to visit this place.
Conclusion: An old video of K Annamalai crying on stage is being shared to falsely claim that he cried after his defeat in the Lok Sabha elections 2024.
(This story was originally published by The Quint, and republished by NDTV as part of the Shakti Collective)
