Clip of Naidu calming crowd at Sitharaman’s speech in Andhra’s Madanapalle sets off Congress-NDA row

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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asks the crowd to listen to her during her speech at the launch of the Global Horticulture Hub - Rayalaseema Rising project in Madanapalle on October 2, 2026. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

A 30-second interruption to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s speech at Madanapalle on October 2 turned into a political row on Sunday (October 4, 2026), after a clip of it went viral on X with the claim that the crowd had been “demanding jobs”. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, in a reply to a video post on X, called it public anger. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Ms. Sitharaman, and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and BJP leaders replied to Mr. Ramesh’s post, saying it was the “overwhelming and enthusiastic response” of party workers.

रायलसीमा में बवाल मंच पर CM चंद्रबाबू नायडू पवन कल्याण अनंत अंबानी। वित्त मंत्री जो बोलीं सुनो जनता बोली पहले नौकरी दो! सिटी नारे हूटिंग वित्त मंत्री को रोकना पड़ा भाषण। चंद्रबाबू नायडू को उठकर कहना पड़ा-शांत रहो! 1 लाख करोड़ के प्रोजेक्ट में भी रोजगार का सवाल भारी अब जनता जाग गई है अपने हक के लिए सवाल कर रही है। क्या हॉर्टिकल्चर हब से रायलसीमा के युवाओं को रोजगार मिलेगा या सिर्फ भाषण?

Ms. Sitharaman was speaking in Telugu at the launch of the “Global Horticulture Hub - Rayalaseema Rising” project in Madanapalle, Rayalaseema, when some people in the audience began shouting (what the crowd was shouting is not distinct in the clip). In the clip, she asks the crowd twice to listen to her for a minute, pauses and then steps aside. Mr. Naidu asks the audience to sit down, saying a Union Minister’s message at a programme that would change farmers’ lives was important, and that he and Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan would step out after the programme, when they could “make whatever slogans you want”. He asks people climbing a railing to get down, speaks for about 70 seconds, and Ms. Sitharaman resumes.

The clip was posted on Sunday by a user who said the crowd had shouted “give jobs first”, and it had drawn over six lakh views by evening. Mr. Ramesh reposted it with the comment, in Hindi: “The Finance Minister herself is seeing how much anger there is among the public. The Chief Minister had to silence the people.”

Jairam ji, your interpretation of what happened could not be further from reality. What you are trying to falsely portray as public anger was, in fact, an overwhelming and enthusiastic response from the people. The sheer enthusiasm of the gathering required me to intervene briefly so that the programme could continue smoothly. To mistake people's enthusiasm for anger only reveals how disconnected you are from the mood of the people of Andhra Pradesh and Bharat alike. Politically motivated social media narratives cannot change what people themselves felt and expressed! @Jairam_Ramesh

Responding on X, Mr. Naidu said Mr. Ramesh’s interpretation “could not be further from reality”, and that what was being portrayed as public anger was “an overwhelming and enthusiastic response from the people”. The enthusiasm of the gathering required him to intervene briefly to ensure the programme proceeded smoothly, he said, and “politically motivated social media narratives cannot change what people themselves felt and expressed.”

@Jairam_Ramesh Unbelievable, Jairam. Didn't think you were impetuous. Both @JaiTDP and @JanaSenaParty workers were keen on interacting with their leaders @ncbn garu and @PawanKalyan garu. Hon. CM said that after the programme they would come out and interact. That was all there is to it.

Ms. Sitharaman replied that TDP and Jana Sena Party (JSP) workers had been keen to interact with Mr. Naidu and Mr. Pawan Kalyan, and the Chief Minister had told them the two would come out after the programme. “Unbelievable, Jairam. Didn’t think you were impetuous,” she wrote. “That was all there is to it.”

IT Minister Nara Lokesh accused the Congress leader of circulating “fake news” without verifying the facts. He said there was no disruption of the Finance Minister’s speech by youth demanding jobs, and alleged that a normal interaction with an enthusiastic gathering had been selectively clipped and given a misleading narrative. He urged Mr. Ramesh to verify facts before posting on social media and asked him to delete what he described as a false claim.

This is how fake news is manufactured - and then amplified by senior Congress leaders without even bothering to verify the facts. There was no disruption of the Finance Minister's speech by local youth demanding jobs. The claim being circulated is completely false. A normal interaction with an enthusiastic gathering is being deliberately clipped, twisted and given a fabricated narrative. Shri @Jairam_Ramesh, surely a senior leader of your experience should verify facts before tweeting. Deliberate misinformation is not on. Delete the lie. @nsitharaman @ncbn

Andhra Pradesh BJP chief P.V.N. Madhav echoed the government’s position, saying a routine interaction with the gathering had been portrayed as an organised jobs protest.

@Jairam_Ramesh, before drawing political conclusions from a clipped video, the basic facts deserve to be checked, a trait that appears to be very rare among Congress leaders. What actually happened at the event is very different from the narrative being circulated. A routine interaction with the gathering has been presented as an organised protest over jobs, and that version has now been amplified politically by you. Now, please watch this video, where the same crowd can be seen cheering during the Hon'ble Finance Minister's speech and thanking her. There was no disruption of the Finance Minister's address by protesting youth. They were cheering for and supporting their leaders on the stage. Rayalaseema's aspirations for investment, employment and economic growth deserve a serious discussion, not a narrative built around your selectively cut video and a misleading interpretation. The proposed ₹1 lakh crore Horticulture Hub is precisely the kind of large-scale investment whose potential impact on farmers, industry and employment should be discussed on facts. Political commentary is a choice. Verifying the facts before publishing it is a responsibility. @Jairam_Ramesh..now it is your responsibility to correct the record and withdraw the misleading post.

The October 2 event saw Mr. Naidu and Ms. Sitharaman lay the foundation stones for the ₹1-lakh-crore horticulture hub and the Indian School of Agriculture .

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