In the backdrop of the Dubbaka Assembly by-poll on November 3, a video has surfaced on social media platforms claiming that Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is paying people in a bid to gain votes in the Dubbaka by-elections.

The by-poll is necessitated by the death of sitting TRS MLA Solipeta Ramalinga Reddy due to health problems in August this year. The ruling TRS has fielded his widow Solipeta Sujatha as its candidate against BJP candidate Raghunandan Rao.

BJP leader N Ramchander Rao shared the video with the same caption saying, "This is Dubbaka bye-elections or Dabbu Ku bye-elections. TRS up to its real colour."

Congress leader and former minister Mohammad Ali Shabbir also shared the video accusing TRS of buying votes with a caption saying, "TRS leaders distributing money among voters in Dubbak by-elections. Will Election Commission of India take some action or remain a mute spectator?"

The truth behind the claim 

In our investigation, we found this claim to be misleading. The video is from January of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) members distributing money during local municipal elections in Sathupally town

With the help of relevant keyword searches on google, we found several results from January 2020, when the party workers distributed money to voters in Sathupalli town before the municipal elections.

A video uploaded on YouTube on January 21, 2020 by a local channel, CVR News showed the same video from the counter of 15 seconds. The video descriptions say, "TRS Leaders Distributing Money for Municipal Elections at Sathupalli"

According to a news report published on NTV News on January 20, we found an article with a screengrab from the same video. The article said a man allegedly identified as Hanuman, a ward candidate was caught on camera distributing money to voters.

In conclusion, an old video from January showing TRS members distributing money in Sathupally for the municipal elections revived amid by-polls in Dubbaka.