A video has been going viral on social media with the claim that it shows the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips lying on the streets of North 24 Parganas in West Bengal.
How did we find out?: We ran a reverse image search on the video using Google Lens and could not find any credible sources supporting the statement.
The District Election Officer (DEO) of North 24 Parganas issued a clarification stating that the VVPAT paper slips shown in the video are related to the mock poll conducted the day before the poll day and have no relation to the actual poll. The tweet also states that a detailed enquiry has been initiated.
ANI released a report in which the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, made a statement regarding the VVPAT slips found lying on the floor. He said that
"A preliminary has been conducted regarding the VVPAT slips which were found on the road. When a machine is commissioned and a mock poll is conducted, the VVPAT slips are taken out and shown to people…These are not election VVPATs. Each slip has a number which gives the information about the machine it has come out of, the date the voting took place and the place where the voting took place. These slips are not related to the elections."Manoj Kumar Agarwal, Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal
Conclusion: The video shows the VVPAT paper slips from the mock poll and has no relation to the actual poll conducted on poll day.
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