The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) shared two deepfake videos from the web series Panchayat and its promotion to taking a shot at each other ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections.
BJP Delhi's X handle shared a popular 'Dekh Raha Hai Binod' scene from Panchayat, overlaying it with voice clones of actors Durgesh Kumar and Ashok Pathak who play Banrakas and Binod respectively in the series.
In the 1 minute long doctored video Kumar alleges that AAP has been running a fradulent data collection scheme of people in the name of registering for schemes like the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana and Sanjeevani Yojana. The actor further urges that one should not register in schemes that require personal information to avoid financial frauds.
Here is the archive.
In the video, the BJP uses a screenshot of a Dainik Jagran news article about questions being raised on AAP's schemes and registration processes.
According to the article published on December 25, government departments in Delhi have raised questions about AAP's schemes and termed the registrations illegal. The controversy further erupted after Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena acting on the complaint of a Congress leader, on December 28, ordered police action against alleged private companies gathering personal details of women for registering under the Mahila Samman Yojana, a poll promise by the AAP.
The deepfake video shared by BJP talks about the same controversy, calling AAP's registration campaigns a fraud.
In reply to the allegations, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal slammed the BJP for trying to order a 'sham investigation to derail trust'. He also leaned heavily on AAP's free essential amenities scheme in the city, a message echoed by the manipulated video shared by AAP.
AAP's official social media handle also took to doctoring content around the Panchayat TV series. The AAP video is from a promotional shoot for Panchayat, featuring the series' lead actors, Jitendra Kumar, Faisal Malik and Raghubir Yadav singing praises of the freebies provided to Delhi residents by the AAP government.
Here is an archive.
Interestingly, both the videos have clearly mentioned that they are spoofs.
AI Voice Clone Used
We tested both the videos using TrueMedia.org's deepfake detection tool available to journalists and researchers.
For both the videos, results showed substantial evidence of being manipulated. There was also substantial evidence of AI-generated audio used in both the clips.
We also found the original videos doctored by BJP and AAP respectively to make the deepfakes.
Handles on X have shared the AAP video and raised questions about The Viral Fever, the producer of Panchayat, endorsing AAP in Delhi elections. BOOM reached out to Faisal Malik, one of the lead actors of the series, who denied any association with the political party.
