Altered Opinion Poll Shared To Claim BSP Will Win 2022 UP Polls

The viral image is altered, and in the original video, the opinion poll suggests that the BSP will get 12-20 seats.

A screenshot of a news bulletin, showing an opinion poll on Hindi news channel News 24 for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh elections, is doing the rounds on social media.

The poll shows that the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is likely to win between 203-211 seats in the 403-seat Assembly. It further shows that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to get 144-152 seats, Samajwadi Party 12-20 seats, and the Congress 19-27 seats in the ongoing 2022 UP polls.

However, we found that the photo of the graphic plate shows the opinion poll is altered. In the original broadcast of the channel, we noticed that the poll, which was conducted by 'DB Live', predicted between 203-211 seats for the SP and 12-20 seats for the BSP.

While the rest of the data was not tampered with, the numbers of the SP and the BSP were switched to create a misleading narrative.

CLAIM

The photo is being shared with the claim that the BSP will win the elections in Uttar Pradesh.

This claim is being circulated massively on Facebook, and several other archived links can be seen here, here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND

In the viral image, we could see the logo of Hindi news channel News 24.

Using this as a clue, we checked their YouTube channel and searched the page with the keyword 'DB Live poll'.

We found the news bulletin – from where the viral screengrab was taken – posted on 22 January in a show called 'Rashtra ki Baat' presented by news anchor Manak Gupta.

The part where Gupta speaks about the opinion poll of 'DB Live' can be heard from 2:40-3:14 minutes. The original 'DB Live' opinion poll predicts:

• BJP+: 144-152 seats

• SP+: 203-211 seats

• BSP: 12-20 seats

• Congress: 19-27 seats

However, the ticker was missing in the YouTube video.

We also found the video uploaded on their Twitter handle on the same date. Here, we could match all the elements of the viral screenshot with that of the original bulletin.

Clearly, an edited image of the opinion poll is shared to falsely claim that the BSP is likely to come to power in the state.

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