DigitEye India Fact Checkers
A video showing a person casting vote repeatedly for others inside a polling booth is being widely shared on social media. The claim states that the person belonging to to AIMIM party in Telangana has rigged the votes in Hyderabad’s Bahadurpura booth.
Digiteye India received a request on its WhatsApp for fact-checking the video. We found that the video has been shared on other social media platforms as seen here and here. The caption in Telugu reads: “Look at the atrocity in Bahadurpura polling booth by MIM.”
Another X user tweeted saying, “Pakistan🇵🇰 Dogs AIMIM Dogs are Rigging! Shame on u @asadowaisi @AkbarOwaisi_MIM @BRSparty @INCTelangana @KTRBRS, please take action on this @ECISVEEP.(sic)”
The video clip shows voters going inside the polling compartment one after the other, while the presiding officer and another poll official facilitate the alleged rigging. The familiar beep sound of an EVM is heard every time a person exits the compartment.
@narendramodi in old city, Hyderabad , Telangana totally rigging by MIM party.plse conduct re-poling this area. pic.twitter.com/llF0sXOmpN
— Chandra irukulla (@iru41420077) May 15, 2024
FACT-CHECK
Digiteye India first checked for the authenticity of the video. We took some key frames from the video and checked them on Google Reverse Image Search. The results led us to a video uploaded in 2022 when municipal elections were held in West Bengal. The original video was published by TV9 Bangla on 27 February 2022 and identified the polling booth at Lakeview School in Ward 33 of South Dum Dum Municipality in West Bengal.
The incident evoked considerable controversy with both West Bengal BJP and West Bengal Congress alleging the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for the rigging of polls.
Secondly, the audio reveals that the language being spoken in the video is not Telugu. Finally, the Chief Electoral Officer of Telangana stated that the video has nothing to do with the recently concluded 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Hyderabad.
An OLD video purportedly depicting rigging during Parliament elections in Telangana is being circulated on WhatsApp. The video is NOT from Telangana. For more facts, please go through the press note – CEO Telangana pic.twitter.com/hw1Afuiakm
— Chief Electoral Officer Telangana (@CEO_Telangana) May 15, 2024
Hence, the video and the claim are false.
Claim: Video showing rigging by AIMIM in Hyderabad’s Bahadurpura during the May 13, 2024 Lok Sabha polling.
Conclusion: The claim is false. An old video from the 2022 West Bengal Municipal elections is being shared as a rigging incident during the 2024 Lok Sabha polling in Hyderabad’s Bahadurpura by the AIMIM.
Rating: Totally False — 
