A video from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, showing a man protesting and alleging voter manipulation, is viral on social media with the false claim that it shows voter manipulation in Uttar Pradesh.
BOOM, in its factcheck, found that the video was shot at NM Convent School in Bhopal, MP, on May 7, 2024, during the third phase of polling, and is not a video from UP.
One of the viral captions containing this video read, "This is insane. Voting stopped in Uttar Pradesh because Muslims are coming out and voting. Why is the Govt scared. You insult them daily, call them Ghuspethiye and you expect them to vote for you? Should’ve thought this through when you make those utterances. We should stop this farce in the name of elections Now. SC should take cognisance of these irregularities. How is this a free and fair election when one section of the electorate are not allowed to vote. And on 4th June BJP will claim majority and the nation will watch with wide eyes unable to do anything. Sick !"
Click here to view an archive of the above post.
The same video is also circulating on Facebook with the false claim, which can be viewed here and here.
Fact Check
BOOM observed the video closely, and found a keyframe containing a barrier which had the text "M.P. P.W.D" written on it. This indicated that the video might be from Madhya Pradesh.
Taking cue from this, we did a keyword search on Google, and found that the same claim had been fact-checked by The Quint, who traced the person seen protesting in the video with the help of a local journalist. According to The Quint's fact-check, the individual seen in the video is Isa Ahmad.
BOOM reached out to Ahmad on Facebook, who confirmed to us that he was indeed the person seen protesting in the video. Ahmad confirmed to us that the video was shot at "Ward no. 40, Bagh Umrao Dulha of Narela Assembly Constituency, in Bhopal, at booth number 194, located at NM Convent School".
Taking cue from this, we located NM Convent School, Bhopal, on Google Maps, and compared the images with the background in the viral video. Comparing a few keyframes, we found similarities in the photos on Google Maps, to the background of the video, which confirmed to us that the video was shot at the NM Convent school in Bhopal.
BOOM was unable to independently confirm the allegations of voter manipulation levied by Ahmad. However, our fact-check ascertains that the video was shot in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, and not Uttar Pradesh.
