A digitally edited ‘Hindustan’ news clipping is being shared to peddle a false claim that EVMs were manipulated in 2024 UP bye-elections
On 23 November 2024, the Election Commission of India declared the results of the Uttar Pradesh assembly bye-elections, along with the results of the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections (here). In the Uttar Pradesh assembly bye-elections, the BJP-led NDA won seven out of nine seats (here, here). In this context, purported clippings from the ‘Hindustan’ Hindi newspaper are going viral on social media (here, here, here, and here), alleging EVM manipulation in the recently concluded Uttar Pradesh by-elections. The viral newspaper clipping claims that in the Uttar Pradesh by-polls, winning Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates Dharmraj Nishad from Katehari and Deepak Patel from Phulpur each received 78,389 votes, while Samajwadi Party (SP) candidates Shobhawati Verma and Mohd Mujataba Siddiqui, who lost in these constituencies, each received 66,984 votes respectively. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: ‘Hindustan’ newspaper clippings showing that in the Katehari and Phulpur constituencies, both the winning BJP candidates and the trailing SP candidates received 78,289 votes and 66,984 votes, respectively, which hints EVM manipulation.
Fact: This viral ‘Hindustan’ news clipping is digitally edited. The original newspaper, published by ‘Hindustan’ on 24 November 2024, shows different and accurate figures. In Phulpur, the BJP candidate Deepak Patel received 78,289 votes, while the SP candidate Mohd Mujataba Siddiqui received 66,984 votes. In Katehari, the BJP candidate Dharmraj Nishad received 104,091 votes, while the SP candidate Shobhawati Verma secured 69,597 votes. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
We noticed that the viral newspaper clipping, from the Hindi news outlet ‘Hindustan,’ indicates it is the Agra edition, published on 23 November 2024. Taking this as a cue, we visited the ‘Hindustan’ website and found the online e-paper of the Agra edition published (archived link) on 24 November 2024. The election results were published on page 12 of this edition. The original newspaper, published by ‘Hindustan,’ shows that in the 2024 Uttar Pradesh assembly bye-elections in Phulpur, the BJP candidate Deepak Patel received 78,289 votes, while the SP candidate Mohd Mujataba Siddiqui received 66,984 votes. In Katehari, the BJP candidate Dharmraj Nishad received 104,091 votes, while the SP candidate Shobhawati Verma secured 69,597 votes.
The vote counts for both the BJP and SP candidates in Katehari, as shown in the original paper published by ‘Hindustan,’ do not match those in the viral clipping. This clearly indicates that the ‘Hindustan’ newspaper clipping has been digitally edited. A comparison of the original newspaper clipping published by ‘Hindustan’ and the viral newspaper clipping is shown below.
Furthermore, we also verified the vote tallies mentioned in the viral newspaper clipping with the results published on the Election Commission of India (ECI) website. According to the results published on the ECI website, in Phulpur, the BJP candidate Deepak Patel received 78,289 votes, while the SP candidate Mohd Mujataba Siddiqui received 66,984 votes. In Katehari, the BJP candidate Dharmraj Nishad received 1,04,091 votes, while the SP candidate Shobhawati Verma secured 69,597 votes. These figures match the numbers reported in the original ‘Hindustan’ newspaper.
NewsMeter contacted Manoj Parmar, Editor of the Hindustan Agra edition, regarding the viral clippings. Parmar stated, “The viral clipping has been edited by some mischievous individuals on social media.” When asked whether identical figures were misprinted in the newspaper’s hardcopy, he reiterated, “No misprinting happened; the viral clipping is edited.” Based on this information, it is evident that the ‘Hindustan’ news clipping has been digitally edited and is being shared to falsely claim that EVMs were manipulated in the recently concluded elections.
To sum it up, the winning BJP candidates in the Katehari and Phulpur constituencies did not secure the same number of votes. This viral ‘Hindustan’ news clipping is digitally edited.