Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Army soldiers involved in voter fraud at the behest of the BJP.
Fact
Video dates back to 2019, and has been falsely shared as recent
A video showing a man accusing army soldiers of campaigning for the BJP, and asking people to vote for the saffron party inside a polling booth has gained social media attention amid the ongoing elections in the country. The man further alleges that the soldiers were involved in fake voting. Multiple social media users shared the footage claiming that the BJP is using the army to cast fake votes. Newschecker found that the video dates back to 2019, and has been shared as recent.
We received the claim on our WhatsApp tipline (+91-9999499044) requesting to be fact checked
The video is being widely shared on social media platforms.
Such posts can be seen here, here and here.
Also Read: 2018 Video Of Congress Leader’s Remarks On Kashmir Revived Amid Lok Sabha Polls
Fact Check/Verification
On skimming through the comment section of the post carrying the viral footage, we noticed multiple users pointing out that the video is from 2019.
Taking a clue, we looked up keywords “Army,” “forcing,” “BJP” and “vote” on Facebook, and set the time frame of the search to 2019. This yielded multiple posts from May, 2019 carrying the viral footage, confirming that the video is not related to the ongoing General Elections but dates back to 2019. Such posts can be seen here, here and here.
Notably, in one 2019 post a user had pointed out that the “Insignia is of Grenadiers.” We then, searched for keywords “Army soldiers,” “fake voting allegation,” “Grenadiers” and “2019,” which led us to a report by The New Indian Express, dated May 2, 2019. It stated, “ Army officials in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur have filed a complaint against unidentified miscreants for allegedly trying to snatch their voter ID cards of general voters, obstructing Army voters posted in Cantonment there and circulating videos to malign the Army’s image, on April 29.”
The report further quoted the letter saying, “On 29 April 2019, day of voting for Parliamentary Elections, soldiers and their spouses of the Grenadiers Regimental Centre proceeded to cast their votes on a bona fide transport viz Army vehicle at Booth no 146, Swami Vivekananda Higher Secondary School, Katanga, Jabalpur. At booth no 146 when the soldiers of the Indian Army were in the process of exercising their right to vote, certain miscreants approached and snatched their voter identity cards by using criminal force and tried to obstruct them from casting their votes.”
An X post by @ANI, dated May 1, 2019, stated, “Army officials in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, have filed a complaint against unidentified miscreants for trying to snatch voter ID cards of general voters, obstructing Army voters posted in Cantonment there and circulating videos to malign Army image, on April 29.” It also carried photographs of the same.
The Congress candidate however had filed a complaint with the Election Commission in this matter. A Times of India report, dated May 3, 2019, stated that Vivek Tankha complained to Election Commission, claiming that an Army officer has a ‘close relationship’ with Jabalpur BJP candidate and state party chief Rakesh Singh. In the complaint, he accused an Army officer of aiding and abetting “illegalities” during voting in the Cantonment Area. “We have evidence of those who created trouble and this will be handed over to the EC,” Tankha was quoted as saying.
We were not independently able to verify whether the allegations levied by the army or the Congress candidate were correct or not, however we can confirm that it is not recent.
Conclusion
We could thus conclude that a video showing an incident from 2019 has been misleadingly linked to the ongoing Lok Sabha Polls.
Result: Missing Context
Sources
Facebook Post By @subhir.rajanmavunkal, Dated May 2, 2019
Report By The New Indian Express, Dated May 2, 2019
Report By Times of India, Dated May 3, 2019
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
