The 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections will be held in a single phase on April 23, with results on May 4.
The contest is mainly between the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) alliance led by MK Stalin and the opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) led by Edappadi K Palaniswami. Emerging players like Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam and Naam Tamilar Katchi add a competitive edge, making it a multi-cornered fight for 234 seats.
In the above context, a video is being widely shared on social media in which a person is recording gifts such as money, a watch and a phone with the picture of DMK leader MK Stalin on it.
Those sharing the video claim it shows DMK distributing money and gifts to lure voters ahead of the Tamil Nadu elections.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “Used to hear stories of people getting bribed, offered alcohol to vote for a certain party. But look at this: Stain's party is allegedly distributing money, Titan watches and Samsung phones to lure voters.”
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The video is from 2025, when the DMK gave packages to its booth committee members.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same video was shared by a YouTube channel on August 5, 2025. Though the caption suggested that it is one of the most gifted phone, we can ascertain that the viral video was old.
However, we found that The Federal had also shared visuals of a phone, an envelope and a watch with Stalin’s photo on it and a text that reads, “ஓரணியில் தமிழ்நாடு” which translates in English as “Tamil Nadu United”.
The caption associated with the image reads, “#WATCH | Booth agents in #Chennai’s #Kolathur who enrolled most members under Tamil Nadu Scheme received Samsung phones, watches, umbrellas, and Rs 5,000 in cash as gifts from CM #Stalin.”
Moreover, a YouTube channel, Malaimurusu TV 24x7, also shared the same video on July 29, 2025. The caption associated with the video read, “Cell phone, watch, Rs 1000 cash. Gifts in the name of Oraniyil Tamil Nadu? Evening News A video of DMK’s ‘Oraniyil Tamil Nadu’ scheme, under which booth-level members are being given gifts including cell phones, gold watches, umbrellas, pouches, handbags, has gone viral on social media and created a controversy. It is said that gifts worth nearly Rs 12,000 are being given in Chennai’s Egmore constituency. This is a part of the membership drive…”
Taking a hint, we searched with relevant keywords and found a report by ABP Live.
The report was published on July 4, 2025. According to the report, ‘Oraniyil Tamil Nadu’ is a large-scale outreach and membership campaign launched by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. It translates to ‘Tamil Nadu as one,’ and aims to show unity while expanding the party’s grassroots support. The campaign involves door-to-door outreach across all 234 constituencies, targeting crores of households and encouraging people to join the party, while highlighting government welfare schemes and achievements.
Hence, we can ascertain that the viral video is old and shared with a false claim.
