Old, Unrelated Video Shared as Voting Fraud in Hyderabad Lok Sabha Polls

The video could be traced back to 2022, which predates the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections.

Amid the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, a video showing a man repeatedly casting votes on behalf of other people is being circulated as a recent incident from Hyderabad.

What are users claiming?: An X (formerly Twitter) premium user shared the video with a caption that said, "A video is going viral claiming that a person has cast everyone's votes in Hyderabad's Bahadur Pura."

We received a query about the viral video on our WhatsApp tipline as well. You can view archives of similar claims here, here, and here.

Are these claims true?: Neither is this video recent nor is it related to the ongoing general elections. It could be traced back to February 2022 and was reportedly captured during the municipal elections in West Bengal.

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How did we find that out?: Using the help of InVID, we divided the video into several keyframes and performed a reverse image search on them.

• This directed us to the same visuals published on an unverified YouTube channel named 'TV9 Bangla'.

• It was uploaded on 27 February 2022 and was its title when translated to English said, "WB Municipal Election 2022 | In booth No. 108 of Ward No. 33 of South Dumdum, the agent voted no."

CEO Telangana refuted the viral claim: Sharing a press release, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Telangana clarified on X that the video is not from Telangana.

• The release mentioned that the video was not taken during any elections conducted in Telangana and asked people to share the correct information.

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

Hyderabad Police clarified on X: The official X handle of Hyderabad City Police said that the video is unrelated to Bahadurpura and unrelated to 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.

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. pic.twitter.com/JhvOtelyUf

— Hyderabad City Police (@hydcitypolice) May 15, 2024

A recurring claim: Team WebQoof has debunked this video multiple times in the past, when it was falsely shared as voting fraud in Gujarat and Karnataka. Watch our video below to find out more details.

• You can read our previous fact-checks here and here.

Conclusion: This video is old and unrelated to Telangana or 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.

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