A set of social media posts accompanying videos linking them to the upcoming Karnataka elections are being widely circulated. One of the videos carries visuals of a mob vandalizing a BJP campaign vehicle. Another video shows people displaying placards asking not to vote for the BJP. Whereas the third video shows women receiving 2000 denomination notes in an envelope that carries a BJP party logo. Through this article let’s fact-check the authenticity of the claim associated with these videos.
Claim: Visuals related to the upcoming Karnataka elections 2023
Fact: These are old videos and have nothing to do with the upcoming assembly general elections in Karnataka in 2023. While one of the videos is related to the West Bengal general election held in April 2021, the other two videos are related to by-elections held in Telangana, back in 2021 & 2022. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Karnataka is going to the polls on 10 May 2023. Meanwhile, campaigns of all parties have gained momentum. In this regard, multiple videos have been doing rounds associating them with the upcoming elections. However, the visuals shared through above mentioned social media posts have nothing to do with the current elections. Let’s look into each video individually below.
These visuals are old and are related to a by-poll of the Munugode Assembly constituency, Telangana, that took place in November 2022. A reverse image search of the viral visuals yielded multiple news reports which reported the same visuals back in November 2022.
As per one such news report, the visuals show a clash between the ruling BRS and BJP supporters, on the last day of the campaign.
A couple of other news reports also reported that these visuals are from Munugode in Telangana can be viewed here and here.
A relevant keyword search on Facebook led us to a page titled ‘No Vote to BJP- Not a single vote to BJP’. The viral video was featured on this page back in April 2021.
The video is shared associating it with a caption that reads ‘Judgment of people around the world. There is no division in Bengal’. This implies that the video is made during the West Bengal general election held in 2021.
There is a twitter handle with the same name, and the same viral video is shared through this handle on 24 April 2024, with a caption that reads “Bengalis across the world saying No Vote To BJP”.
According to the Wire, a forum called “Bengal against Fascist RSS-BJP” formed by a group of people connected to various social and mass movements, started the campaign “No Vote To BJP”. Reports about the campaign can be read here and here.
These visuals of a woman receiving money in an envelope carrying the BJP election symbol actually date back to October 2021, when the Huzurabad constituency of Telangana went for a by-poll.
A reverse image search of the screenshots yielded few regional media reports which reported the same visuals associating them with the Huzurabad by-election. These reports can be viewed here and here.
Although these reports did not mention the exact location of the video, the availability of the video on the internet since 2021 establishes that it has nothing to do with the upcoming Karnataka elections.
To sum it up, old visuals are being shared associating them with the upcoming Karnataka Elections 2023.
