Fact Check: Gandhi family demeaning Telangana CM's office? Here are the facts

Two videos of Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy allegedly showing him compromising the dignity of his office by allowing Congress leaders to treat him disrespectfully have gone viral.The first video shows him walking alongside Priyanka Gandhi, during which a security person appears to push him away. The second video shows him escorting Sonia Gandhi on stage and making way for her.India Today Fact Check found that both these videos predate his swearing-in as chief minister.PRIYANKA GANDHI VIDEOIn this video, Revanth Reddy appears to drop Priyanka Gandhi off at her car; meanwhile, a security person can be seen pushing Reddy multiple times. Sharing the video on X, a user wrote, “The level of disrespect. The CM is being sidelined by guards for a normal MP.” The video featured the logo of “Qube TV”. We found the same video on its YouTube channel, where it was uploaded on May 8, 2023. This clearly establishes that it precedes Revanth Reddy’s chief ministership — he was sworn in on December 7, 2023.Priyanka Gandhi had addressed a rally in Saroornagar, Telangana, on May 8, 2023. The viral video is from the same day. Qube TV also uploaded several other videos from the rally on May 8.SONIA GANDHI VIDEOIn this video, Revanth Reddy is seen showing Sonia Gandhi the way on stage. An X user wrote, “CM of State or Security Guard of Sonia Gandhi?” Another person wrote, “Poor him! He is the Chief Minister of a state, and every constitutional position she has held in the past ranks below his current office in the order of precedence.”Upon reverse-searching frames from the video, we found an older version of it on Facebook, dated September 18, 2023. This establishes that this video also predates Reddy's tenure as chief minister. The Facebook post identifies Reddy as the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president, not as the chief minister of the state.Further searches led us to several news reports from September 2023 featuring the same stage, showing Revanth Reddy and Sonia Gandhi in the same outfits as seen in the viral video. The Congress party had organised a public meeting in Tukkuguda, Hyderabad, on September 17, 2023. The viral video is from the same event.The same video had also gone viral in December 2023, when he was set to take oath as Chief Minister.Thus, it’s clear that both viral videos predate Revanth Reddy's tenure as the chief minister of Telangana.- Ends