Old, Unrelated Images Shared as ‘Vote Jihad’ in 2024 Maharashtra Elections

We found that both the images in the viral post were old and had no connection to the recent assembly elections.

Fact-Check | The images are old and unrelated to the recent Maharashtra assembly elections.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

As people in Maharashtra were voting to choose their state government on 20 November, a post carrying two images that showed women dressed in burqas and hijabs went viral on the internet.

What was the claim?: An X (formerly Twitter) handle shared these images as evidences of 'Vote Jihad' in the state of Maharashtra. The user further urged the Hindu community to vote in large numbers.

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

We received a query about the images on our WhatsApp tipline as well. You can view archives of similar claims here, here, and here.

What are the facts?: However, both these images are old and unrelated to the recent voting in 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections.

About the first image: We isolated the first image and performed a Google Lens search and found the same visual uploaded in a report published by the Times of India (TOI).

• The report was shared on 25 October 2019 and talked about the then assembly elections in Maharashtra.

• The image's caption identified the location as Nagpur and said, "Muslim women cast their votes for the Maharashtra assembly elections at a polling booth in Nagpur on Monday."

TOI published the report on 25 October 2019.

(Source: TOI/Screenshot)

• Another round of reverse image search on the first image directed us to a similar visual taken from a different angle.

• It was shared in a report by Marathi newspaper Lokmat on 22 October 2019. It, too, identified the location as Nagpur.

The report was published on 22 October 2019.

(Source: Lokmat/Screenshot)

What about the second image?: Repeating the isolation process for the second visual, we performed a Google Lens search and found the same image published by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in a report.

• The report was published on 13 April 2019 and talked about voting in the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections.

• It said that the for the first time, voting continued till late night in assembly elections in the state.

• While we could not independently verify the location of this image, it is clear that it has been available online since 2019 and is unrelated to recent assembly elections in Maharashtra.

The report was published on 13 April 2019

(Source: BBC/Screenshot)

Conclusion: Both the images are old and are being shared with a false context.

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