Fact Check: Viral video showing Bengalis saying “No vote to BJP” is not recent
The Chief Electoral Commissioner had announced the schedule for the 2924 Lok Sabha elections recently. The elections will take place in 7 phases starting on April 19 and ending on June 1, 2024.
Claim :
A viral video showing people from West Bengal saying “No vote to BJP” is a recent one, shot ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha electionsFact :
The viral video is from 2021 West Bengal elections. It is not recent and also not related to 2024 general elections.
The Chief Electoral Commissioner had announced the schedule for the 2924 Lok Sabha elections recently. The elections will take place in 7 phases starting on April 19 and ending on June 1, 2024. The elections in West Bengal are going to be held in all 7 phases to elect 43 members of the 18th Lok Sabha and the results will be declared on June 4, 2024 along with all other regions in the country.
While the parties are selecting the candidates and campaigning is ready to kick off, several images and videos are in circulation on social media with false claims. One such video of several people holding placards of “No vote to BJP” is in circulation on social media with the caption “Meanwhile in Bengal #NoVoteToBJP”.
Fact Check:
The claim is False. The video is an old one from the year 2021.
When we searched using the keywords “No Vote to BJP”, we found few articles published on news websites in February 2021.
According to the wire.in, a group of people connected to various social and mass movements came together in November 2020, which led to the formation of a forum called “Bengal against Fascist RSS-BJP’.
We also found that a YouTube channel named ‘No Vote to BJP’ published this video with the Title No Vote to BJP । বিজেপিকে একটিও ভোট নয়।
The same video was also published by an Instagram account named ‘No Vote to BJP’ on February 16, 2021, with the caption #No Vote to BJP in #BengalElections 2021.
Therefore, the viral video shared on social media platforms is not a recent one. It is a video shot and shared in the year 2021 before the West Bengal elections. The claim is False.
