Fact Check by PTI
An Instagram user shared on April 19 a video showing a woman counting money from an envelope bearing the symbol of BJP and with photo and name of a party leader.
PTI Fact Check): Multiple social media users shared a video of a woman counting money from an envelope bearing the symbol of BJP along with photo and name of a party leader, and linked it to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. In its investigation, the PTI Fact Check Desk found that the video dated back to at least November 2023, which was falsely linked to the ongoing general elections and shared with misleading claims.
Claim
An Instagram user shared on April 19 a video showing a woman counting money from an envelope bearing the symbol of BJP and with photo and name of a party leader.
The caption of the post read, “#BJPHataoDeshBachao”
Here is the link and archive link and below is a screenshot of the same:
Investigation
Starting the investigation, the Desk ran the video through InVid Tool Search and extracted several keyframes of the video. On running one of the keyframes through Google Lens, we found several posts carrying the same video with similar claims.
Two such Facebook posts can be viewed here and here, and their archived versions can be seen here and here, respectively.
On further scanning the search results, the Desk came across an X (Twitter) post shared on November 16, 2023.
The caption of the post read, “बीजेपी प्रत्याशी सुदेश राय के लोग रात में पैसे बांट रहे, वार्ड 13 सीहोर। भाजपा ख़रीदने और बेचने से आगे नहीं सोच सकती।”
An English translation to the caption, “People of BJP candidate Sudesh Rai are distributing money at night, Ward 13, Sehore.BJP cannot think beyond buying and selling.”
Here is the link and archive link and below is a screenshot of the same:
Taking a cue from this, the Desk conducted a customised keyword search and came across a video report on YouTube, uploaded by the official channel of Inh 24X7 uploaded on November 17, 2023.
The description of the video, “INH, Sehore में पैसे बांटने का Video Viral | Collector ने लिया संज्ञान, लिफाफे में भाजपा प्रत्याशी का फोटो”
An English translation to the description read: “Video of distribution of money in Sehore goes viral. Collector took cognizance, photo of BJP candidate in envelope”
Here is the link for the video and below is a screenshot of the same:
Subsequently, the Desk concluded that an old video dating back to November 2023, from the runup to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, was shared as recent on social media with misleading claims.
CLAIM
Video of a woman voter counting money from an envelope given by a BJP candidate in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.
FACT
The video dates back to November 2023 from the runup to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections.
CONCLUSION
Several social media users shared a video showing a woman counting money from an envelope bearing the symbol of BJP, along with the photo and name of a party leader, and linked it to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In its investigation, the Desk found an old and unrelated video dating back to November 2023 was shared as recent on social media with misleading claims.
(This story was originally published by PTI and republished by Khabar Lahariya as part of the Shakti Collective.)
