FACT CHECK BY NEWSMETER: Social media users are circulating a video claiming that members of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) engaged in vote rigging at a polling station in Hyderabad's Bahadurpura constituency during the Lok Sabha elections held on May 13.
Sharing the video on X a user wrote, “It is said that this video is of MIM Bahadurpura! please make it viral so that reelection is done by election commission. Kindly look into it and do the needful.”
Similar posts can be seen here and here.
Fact Check
NewsMeter discovered that the video is from the 2022 municipal elections in West Bengal and it has nothing to do with general elections in Telangana.
NewsMeter observed that people in the video were talking in Bengali. Taking this as a hint, we conducted a reverse image search of the video's keyframe using relevant keywords. We discovered that the video was shared by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) on February 27, 2022. Both political parties had accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of engaging in vote rigging.
On the same date, the Congress party also shared images resembling the visuals in the video, accusing the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of vote rigging.
Additionally, we found the video published by TV9 Bangla on February 27. It reported that during the 2022 West Bengal municipal elections, an agent was seen casting votes at booth no. 108 in ward no. 33 of South Dumdum.
The video was also shared by another Bengali digital channel, 'Aarohi News', on February 27. They reported that the incident took place in South Dumdum.
As the video gained traction on social media, the Chief Election Officer of Telangana issued a clarification on May 15, stating that the video is old and not from Telangana.
“ A video clip which shows the inside of a polling station with the Presiding Officer (wearing a surgical mask) is doing rounds on social media. The clip shows a person (wearing a striped dark blue round collar T shirt) standing next to a compartment. People are going into the compartment and coming out, while the person (in the blue striped T shirt) guides the persons going inside the compartment. A beep sound, like that of an EVM, is heard every time a person exits the compartment. It is being claimed that this video is from Bahadurpura AC of Hyderabad PC, and it shows rigging in the polling station. It is hereby pointed out that this is an OLD VIDEO, NOT linked to the Parliamentary election in Telangana or to any other election in Telangana,” the statement said.
Therefore, it is evident that the video does not depict vote rigging in Hyderabad’s Bahadurpura. Instead, it is an old video from West Bengal.
Claim Review: The video shows vote rigging committed by AIMIM cadres at a polling booth in Hyderabad’s Bahadurpura.
Claimed By: Social Media Users
Claim Fact Check: False
(Disclaimer: This story was originally published by NEWSMETER, and republished by India TV as part of the Shakti Collective.)
