Fact-Check: Fake Exit Poll Graphic From TNM Predicting NDA Win in AP Goes Viral!

The News Minute took to their official X page and clarified that the claim was false.

Fact-Check: The graphic is fake. No such predictions have been declared in the public domain. 

(Altered by The Quint) 

A graphic with the news organisation, The News Minute's logo showing a compilation of exit polls for the state of Andhra Pradesh is being circulated on social media platforms.

What does the graphic show?: The graphic lists predictions by several organisations such as India Today-Axis, CNN News 18-IPSOS, Times Now-VMR, Republic-Jan Ki Baat, Republic-CVoter, NewsX-NEΤΑ and Today's Chanakya.

• In all surveys, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is leading against the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), the incumbent party in power in Andhra Pradesh.

NDA in Andhra Pradesh: The alliance includes Telugu Desam Party (TDP), led by former Andhra Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Jana Sena Party (JSP) led by actor-politician Pawan Kalyan.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

This post recorded 146.6K views at the time of writing this story. (Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is this true?: The graphic is fake.

• The News Minute (TNM) clarified that an old image from their story published in 2019 had been shared to falsely claim that prediction in Andhra Pradesh.

• Today's Chanakya also posted on their X page that they had not given any numbers for exit polls hence, it is fake.

How did we find out?: We ran a Google reverse image search on the image and found the Editor-in-Chief of The News Minute, Dhanya Rajendran's post on her X page from 15 May.

• She reposted one of the viral claims and wrote, "Dear TDP and YSRCP supporters. No exit poll results have come. No clue where this graphic is from."

TNM also posted on their official X account and said that they had not posted the purported graphic. TNM said, "This is to clarify that an old image from our story written in 2019 has been shared falsely claiming that we have made a prediction for the Andhra Pradesh Assembly election." (sic.)

• The post also read that according to the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), no news outlet or organisation can post exit poll predictions while elections were underway in parts of the country.

• Publishing of any exit poll surveys was prohibited till 1 June, the last of polling for Lok Sabha and four state assembly elections.

• The reverse image search also took us to TNM's story from 2019 which was about exit poll predictions in Andhra Pradesh.

• It listed the same surveys as the viral claim. Even the numbers for the 'other; parties were '0-1' in both the viral claim and TNM's story.

Here is a link to TNM's 2019 story. 

(Source: TNM/Screenshot) 

Apart from this, political research organisation Today's Chanakya posted on their X page that fake poll numbers for Andhra Pradesh were released in their name.

Conclusion: A fake graphic attributed to The News Minute, predicting NDA's victory in Andhra Pradesh is being circulated on social media platforms.

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