Fact Check: Viral video claiming rigging in a polling booth at Bahadurpura in Hyderabad is MISLEADING
Lok Sabha elections were conducted in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana on May 13, 2024. The elections concluded smoothly without any major incident. BJP leader Madhavi Latha, who is contesting against Asaduddin Owaisi for the Hyderabad Parliamentary seat,
Lok Sabha elections were conducted in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana on May 13, 2024. The elections concluded smoothly without any major incident. BJP leader Madhavi Latha, who is contesting against Asaduddin Owaisi for the Hyderabad Parliamentary seat, staged a protest outside the polling booth alleging that the votes are being rigged. She also complained that the staff at the polling booths have compromised, leading to rigging. She also asked the burqa-clad voters to remove their veils to identify them. This ignited controversy among different communities in the city.
Amidst this, a video is in circulation claiming that it shows rigging going on in a polling booth at Bahadurpura. In the video, a man appears to press the buttons of the EVM repeatedly to cast fake votes, and another man, sitting on a desk nearby, is doing paperwork.
This video is widely in circulation on Twitter.
Fact check:
The claim is Misleading. The video is an old one and was shot during West Bengal elections in 2022.
When we performed reverse image search of the extracted keyframes from the video, we found that the same video was published on social media handles of the BJP and Congress in West Bengal.
Upon further search, we also found that the video was published by TV9 Bangla on February 27, 2022. The title of the video is ‘WB Municipal Election 2022| দক্ষিণ দমদমের ৩৩ নং ওয়ার্ডের
When translated, it states: West Bengal election 2022 I No voter at booth No 108 of ward No 33 of South Dum Dum, agent casts vote.
The Chief Election Officer of Telangana issued a clarification that the video is old and is not from Telangana.
The statement reads: “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 person 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 elections in Telangana or to any other election in Telangana.”
Therefore, the viral video does not show rigging in Bahadurpura, Hyderabad. The video is from west Bengal. The claim is misleading.