As India gears up for the Assembly elections in four states and one Union Territory, two ‘on-ground assessments’ predicting the outcome for West Bengal and Tamil Nadu have gone viral. The ‘reports’ are being attributed to the Intelligence Bureau (IB). Another survey with the logo of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) for West Bengal is also being shared.
The surveys were widely shared on Facebook and Twitter.
You can view an archive of a similar claim here.
You can view an archive of a similar claim on Facebook here.
FAKE IB SURVEY PREDICTING RESULTS FOR TAMIL NADU AND WEST BENGAL
The Intelligence Bureau (IB) is India’s domestic intelligence agency under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). It was established in pre-Independent India by the British soon after the revolt of 1857, according to a report by The Wire.
A 2005 article by the Economic & Political Weekly, ‘Intelligence Bureau, Home Ministry and Indian Politics’ stated that it’s the MHA’s “main information-gathering arm with regard to socio-political tensions and conflict”.
It functions within the fields of internal intelligence, counter-intelligence espionage and counter subversion. It’s primarily responsible for collecting information regarding national security and stability in the country.
It however, does not conduct surveys or on-ground assessments to predict election outcomes.
The Press Information Bureau also stated that the two surveys in the name of IB are fake in a tweet.
I-PAC SURVEY PREDICTS TMC’S DEBACLE, GROUP CALLS IT ‘FAKE’
While the fake surveys in the name of IB predict Bharatiya Janata Party’s defeat in both West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, the survey being circulated in the name of I-PAC predicts a win for BJP in Nandigram.
However, the Indian Political Action Committee took to Twitter to call out the survey as “fake”.
On carefully looking at the viral screenshot, we noticed that the document has been undersigned as ‘Prateek Jain’.
Taking to Twitter, Pratik Jain, co-founder and director of I-PAC called out the viral screenshot and pointed out how his name had been misspelt.
Further, the viral screenshot mentions the abbreviation of All India Trinamool Congress as ‘AITMC’ while the party is usually addressed as ‘TMC’ or ‘AITC’ but not ‘AITMC.’
I-PAC is a political strategist group headed by Prashant Kishore, who was earlier a part of the Janata Dal, and is reportedly credited for the victory of several parties in past elections.
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