No, Chief Electoral Officer of Gujarat Didn't 'Demonstrate EVM Scam' Amid Polls

This video shows members of EVM Hatao Sanyukt Morcha demonstrating a scam related to EVMs and not CEO of Gujarat.

Fact-Check: A video of members of EVM Hatao Sanyukt Morcha demonstrating the malfunctioning of EVMs is going viral with a false claim that it shows the CEO of Gujarat.

(Photo: The Quint)

A video has gone viral which shows people explaining how Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) used for casting votes in Indian elections are malfunctioning.

• The claim states that this is being demonstrated by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Gujarat amid the 2024 general elections.

• It shows the person stating that because of these faulty EVMs, votes cast for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) were automatically given to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: Instagram/Screenshot)

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

What's the truth?: This video shows members of EVM Hatao Sanyukt Morcha demonstrating a scam related to EVMs.

• This does not show the CEO of Gujarat.

How did we find out the truth?: We checked the official website of CEO of Gujarat and found out that P Bharathi is the CEO who cannot be seen in the viral video.

P Bharathi is the CEO of Gujarat.

(Source: website/screenshot)

• We then performed a relevant keyword search on Google which led us to several similar videos showing a team demonstrating the malfunctioning of EVMs.

• Prime Media Goa had also reported on this and the same video as the viral one was shared by The Janta Live on YouTube one month ago, however, they had taken down the video.

• Taking a cue from these videos, we found out that these demonstrations were carried out by an organization called 'EVM Hatao Sanyukt Morcha'.

Screenshot from a YouTube video shared on 2 February 2024.

(Source: Prime Media Goa/Screenshot)

• We found the official website of EVM Hatao Sanyukt Morcha but they did not carry the viral video on their website.

We reached out to the organisation: We spoke to Hijam Rajendra Singha, the founder of the EVN Hatao Sanyukt Morcha.

• He told us that this video is from February 2024 and was recorded in Delhi, not Gujarat.

• "It shows Atul Patel, an engineer associated with us. It does not show the CEO of Gujarat," he adds.

• We have also reached out to the CEO of Gujarat and the story would be updated once we receive a response.

Conclusion: A video of members of EVM Hatao Sanyukt Morcha demonstrating the malfunctioning of EVMs is going viral with a false claim that it shows the CEO of Gujarat.

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