Fact Check: Video of K Annamalai dancing with Kala Master is not from BJP’s padayatra in Tamil Nadu

By Dheeshma Puzhakkal: Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party president and former IPS officer K Annamalai is on a six-month-long statewide padayatra. The rally called En Mann En Makkal or My Land, My People began at Rameswaram, in Ramanathapuram on July 28.

Now, a video of Annamalai dancing alongside a woman on top of a vehicle is making the rounds on social media. The woman was wearing a saffron scarf with the BJP symbol on it. In the background, the song “Kaavaalaa” from the upcoming Rajinikanth movie "Jailer" could be heard. Allegedly, this video was shot during his ongoing padayatra.

India Today found that the video is from a 2021 election campaign in Tamil Nadu. The song heard in the background was digitally added later.

OUR PROBE

With the help of a keyword search, we found a longer version of the viral video shared on the Facebook page of Samayam Tamil, a news outlet that’s part of the Times of India group on April 4, 2021. According to the post, the video was shot during Annamalai’s campaign in the runup to the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls. The woman dancing alongside him was identified as film choreographer Kala, professionally known as Kala Master.

In this version of the video, a pro-BJP election campaign song could be heard in the background. Kala Master could also later be seen exiting the vehicle and dancing with the crowd.

The Indian Express Tamil and Samayam Tamil also published articles about Kala joining Annamalai’s election campaign in April 2021.

According to reports, the video was captured on the last day of campaigning for the 2021 Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu. Annamalai was the BJP candidate from the Aravakurichi Assembly constituency, and Kala Master joined him for campaigning.

The video was also shared by the choreographer on Twitter on April 4, 2021.

In conclusion, it is clear that the video in question is from Annamalai’s campaign during the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections and has no relation to his ongoing padayatra.