This Screenshot Showing 'Massive Win' For AAP in Gujarat Polls is Manipulated

Since polls have not been held for the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections yet, it is impossible to conduct exit polls.

A screenshot of a video by one 'SM Headlines', showing exit polls conducted for the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections is being shared on social media.

The screenshot shows India TV journalist Rajat Sharma, and predicts a landslide win for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Gujarat, with the party bagging 142 out of 182 seats.

However, there are multiple factual inaccuracies.

• The Election Commission of India is yet to announce the polling dates for Gujarat Assembly elections.

• Exit polls are conducted after voters have cast their votes, which is not possible as polling has not taken place yet.

• The fabricated thumbnail of 'SM Headlines'' video does not

  complement the video content, which is a compilation of a mood of the voters.

We found that even in 2017, no media organisation or body had predicted such a landslide victory for AAP.

CLAIM

We found many social media users sharing a screenshot of an exit poll bulletin by 'SM Headlines,' showing journalist Rajat Sharma, predicting a landslide win for the Aam Aadmi Party in the 2022 Gujarat Assembly polls.

Archives of similar posts can be seen here, here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

Firstly, the Election Commission of India is yet to announce the polling dates for the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections.

Exit polls are conducted after constituents have cast their votes in polling booths. Since the dates for the Gujarat polls are yet to be announced, there is no possibility of any exit polls being conducted.

We then looked for the YouTube channel named 'SM Headlines', whose screenshot was shared in the claim. We found a channel with the same name and saw a video was published with the same title and thumbnail as seen in the claim.

But the content of the video was distinct from the thumbnail. It was a compilation of clips from different YouTube channels, including sections of a video from a channel called 'Public Reaction Bank' with some others.

We then looked for anchor Rajat Sharma's bulletins on India TV's YouTube channel and found a video from August, where Sharma was seen in the same outfit and the bulletin was on Ghulam Nabi Azad's resignation from the Congress party.

We even checked the exit poll results of 2017 Gujarat elections and found that the channel had not made any such prediction.

Team WebQoof has debunked several altered graphics and images of exit and opinion polls earlier this year, during the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Several YouTube channels have previously used unrelated or morphed thumbnails of polls for their videos, and the content had no relation to their thumbnails.

Clearly, no exit polls have been conducted for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections and the thumbnail is manipulated.

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