A 13-second clip of actor Prakash Raj asking people not to vote for the Indian National Congress is being shared on social media.
The claim: The video is being shared to claim that the actor asked people not to vote for Congress during the Karnataka Assembly elections.
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(Archives of more posts sharing the video can be seen here, here, here and here.)
Is it true?: No, the video is old and shows the actor sharing a statement before the 2019 General elections.
Prakash Raj shared a video condemning the Congress for sharing 'fake news' about him supporting their party, when he was contesting as an independent candidate from the Bengaluru Central constituency.
How did we find out?: Using relevant keywords, we looked for more information regarding the viral video.
This led us to a report by Deccan Herald which was published on 17 April 2019.
It mentioned that the actor had slammed the Congress for sharing "fake news" about him supporting the party, by sharing a photo of him shaking hands with Congress' candidate Rizwan Arshad.
Here, we came across two videos shared by the actor on his on Twitter account.
The first one carries a longer version of the video from the claim, where the actor said that the information about him supporting the Congress was "fake news," dubbing it "dirty politics."
He shared the same message in Kannada, saying that a photo of him attending a candidates' meeting with Congress' candidate Rizwan Arshad was being shared as one of the actor supporting the party.
The message being shared with the photo said "don't waste your vote on Prakash Raj."
In the second video, he shared an audio recording of his conversation with Arshad's assistant, where he can be heard asking the latter about "Congress' dirty politics."
Prakash Raj on Karnataka elections: Speaking to news agency ANI, the actor said that one should "vote against communal politics."
"This is a place where you have the right to decide... we need Karnataka to be beautiful," Raj said.
The actor also expressed support for the Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra in September 2022, when it passed through Karnataka.
Conclusion: A video of actor Prakash Raj asking people not to vote for Congress before the 2019 General elections is being falsely linked to the Karnataka Assembly elections.
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