BMC Elections: Of BJP, Shiv Sena and the Narrative of Fake News

Shiv Sena sources say a Facebook page called ‘Aaditya Thackeray: Unofficial’ has been created to attack the party.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis with Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray. (Photo: PTI)    

The fake news menace is real and it’s here. The BMC elections this year have witnessed an upsurge in churning out fake news by various political parties while attacking their opponents.

A Shiv Sena member commented about fake letters being circulated in the party’s name.

A BJP MLA circulated the fake letter in Mumbai North, saying it was leaked by the Sena workers. He was exposed when the signature was found to be in English, whereas Raut always signs in Marathi.

A Shiv Sena Member to <i><a href="http://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/other/not-just-trump-rivals-in-civic-polls-too-ranting-about-fake-news/articleshow/57262826.cms">Mumbai Mirror</a></i>

The Sena also blamed the BJP for circulating a letter in the name of MP Sanjay Raut . The letter, which cites reasons for bad performance of the party in the polls, is addressed to Uddhav Thackeray.

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Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on the other hand, said the Shiv Sena has put together a team to troll BJP leaders on social media, according to the report. Madhav Bhandari, BJP’s chief spokesperson, agreed to the same.

Party sources added that a Facebook page called ‘Aaditya Thackeray: Unofficial’ has been created with the sole purpose of attacking the party in virtual space.

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The Bandra-Kurla Complex-based Advanced Strategic Consulting Services, a firm that deals with election analysis, said that several ministers are indulging in phishing, an attempt to attain personal information like passwords and account details with ill-intent.

These trolls create a negative image about the rival party or a candidate. We have come across such systematic trolling by political parties. WhatsApp is a common platform to spread such lies. I have come across cases where political parties have created WhatsApp groups to leak such misinformation.

Ajinkya Naik, Managing Director

Fake news is pushed across various social media, including WhatsApp. The media report suggests that WhatsApp has been used not only to spread misleading information through a process of “systematic trolling”, but also to distribute things like free alcohol, sarees and even money.