A video which appears to be shot from inside a polling booth is being shared to claim that voting was stopped in Uttar Pradesh because Muslims in large numbers were voting.
The claim comes amidst the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.
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(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)
What is the truth?: The viral video is not from Uttar Pradesh as claimed. This incident took place at a polling station in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal.
Hints in the viral video: In several keyframes of the video, we noticed that the location was seen written on different objects.
A closer look at the first name would show 'Madhya Pradesh' written in Hindi in the background as the man continued to speak.
We saw that the barricade carried the sign of MP PWD, which stood for Madhya Pradesh Public Works Department.
These two hints made it clear that the video was not from Uttar Pradesh but from a polling booth in Madhya Pradesh.
Madhya Pradesh can be seen written in the background.
(Source: Viral video/Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)
Identifying the person seen in the video: Team WebQoof reached out to a journalist from MP, Vishnukant Tiwari, who helped us identify the person seen in the viral video as a journalist named 'Isa Ahmad'.
We found Ahmad's Facebook profile and compared his picture with the person seen in the viral video. It showed several similarities.
A comparison clearly highlights several similarities.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)
Speaking to The Quint, Ahmad confirmed that it was indeed him who was seen in the viral video. He identified the location of the incident as Ward 40 in Narela, Bhopal.
Conclusion: While we could not independently verify the claims of voting manipulation, the incident is clearly from Madhya Pradesh and UP, as claimed by people online.
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