Old video from West Bengal shared to claim vote rigging in Hyderabad in 2024 election

This video depicts visuals of a rigging incident that occurred during the 2022 municipal elections in West Bengal. 

With the first four phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections 2024 over, the country is now bracing for the fifth phase of the general polls. Several videos from different parts of the country are circulating on social media regarding the 2024 general election, the majority of these videos are scenarios of previous state or central elections. 

Voting in Telangana was held on13 May. Following this, a video showing a man casting votes for others in a polling booth is being widely shared on social media, claiming that the video shows how MIM rigged the votes in the elections in Bahadurpura, Hyderabad.

The caption states, “Bahadurpura, Old City Hyderabad – Polling Booth – Rigging was done by MIM agents. Rare visual of Rigging program”

But on investigation, we found that the video is not recent. Let’s check the truth.

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Fact Check- 

We started our investigation by conducting a keyword and reverse image search on Google and the results led us to a video published by TV9 Bangla on 27 February 2022. According to this video report, the incident took place in a polling booth at Lakeview School in Ward 33 of South Dum Dum Municipality in West Bengal.

Upon further search, we discovered that the video was also shared by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on 27 February, 2022 accusing the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of engaging in vote rigging. 

We found news reports of this incident on Bangla local media also. According to these reports, in February 2022, municipal elections were held in 108 municipalities across West Bengal. Widespread violence, rigging, and clashes with the police were reported from various parts of West Bengal. It is reported in the news that the incident took place in a booth in South Dum Dum in West Bengal

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As the video gained traction on social media, the Chief Election Officer of Telangana issued a clarification on Twitter on15 May stating that the video is old and not from Telangana. It states, “A circulating video purportedly depicting rigging at a polling station in Bahadurpura, Hyderabad is OLD Video & unrelated to current Loksabha Elections 2024, Its Originating from a YouTube channel, TV9 Bangla, on February 27, 2022. Posting fake videos make you liable to legal action.

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Conclusion- 

Fact Crescendo found the claim made along the viral video to be False. This video depicts visuals of a rigging incident that occurred during the 2022 municipal elections in West Bengal. It has no link to Hyderabad or 2024 election.