Fact-Check: Video of ‘EVM Destruction’ in Manipur Shared With False Claims

Locals destroyed EVMs over allegations of 'proxy voting.'

Fact-Check: This video is from Manipur but is being shared with false claims. 

(Source: Altered by The Quint) 

A video showing several people engaged in a confrontation with police personnel is being shared as one from Manipur.

What is the claim?: Those sharing wrote that women in Manipur broke down the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) after they saw that pressing any button they could see only lotus (the Bharatiya Janata Party's symbol) being printed.

Who shared it?: Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SCP) leader Jitendra Awhad shared the video on his official X (formerly Twitter) account.

• The Uttar Pradesh Congress' X handle also posted the claim.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

This post recorded 513K views at the time of writing this story. (Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is this true?: While this video is a recent one from Manipur, the claim is misleading.

• According to reports, locals destroyed EVMs due to allegations over 'proxy voting.'

How did we find out?: We divided the viral video into multiple screenshots and ran a Google reverse image search on some of them.

• We came across a video report by NDTV from 19 April which matched with the frames of the viral claim.

• It was uploaded with the title, "Manipur News Today | EVMs Vandalised Over "Proxy Voting" Allegations In Manipur"

Here is a comparison between the two.

(Source: Altered by The Quint) 

• NDTV published its video with the description, "Locals vandalised EVM at a polling station in Manipur's Moirang Kampu amid allegations of proxy voting."

• Similarly, the Indian Express, in a video, spoke about intimidation and booth capturing in Manipur at the time of voting on 19 April.

• The Hindu reported on 22 April that "re-polling was successful" in some districts after numerous videos from 19 April showing armed individuals moving around polling stations, in the presence of security personnel, and voters expressing concerns about proxy voting.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Manipur responds: The CEO reposted Awhad's video and called it, "Fake news."

• They mentioned that the video shows a case of "mob violence in a Polling Station in Khurai assembly segment in Imphal East. A re-poll had been done in the said constituency on 22 April.

• The CEO stated that no case of mismatch on the button pressed in the Ballot Unit and Paper Slip generated through VVPAT has been alleged by anyone or found.

• They concluded by saying that legal action is being taken up for spreading "fake news."

FIR Against Jitendra Awhad: News agency ANI reported on 27 April that a case was filed against Awhad for sharing a fake video and alleging a discrepancy between the button pressed in the Ballot Unit and the Paper Slip produced by VVPAT.

The Quint has reached out for inputs from Manipur and the story will be updated once the response comes.

Conclusion: The video is being shared with a false claim that women in Manipur vandalised EVMs as it generated 'lotus slips' no matter which button was pressed.

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