Fact Check: Old video of Jantar Mantar protest falsely linked after the Maharashtra election

The Maha Vikas Aghadi candidates who faced defeat in the recent Maharashtra assembly polls have decided to seek verification of the EVM-Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) units in their segments, a leader of the opposition alliance said.

Amid this on social media, a video of a protest has gone viral. While sharing the video users claim that “The spark of removing EVM has now taken the form of a movement In many villages of Maharashtra, people are on the streets against the Election Commission. There is deep doubt in the country about #EVM.”

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Fact Check

During the investigation, DFRAC found that the claim was false. We found a similar video on the YouTube channel of ‘ohearaldo goa’ uploaded on 31 Jan, 2024 with the description “Amidst the growing momentum advocating for the ban on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) across India, Bharat Mukti Morcha, Ad Sanghatan, and IT Sanghatan Sanstha jointly organized an expansive All India Movement against EVM voting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. The movement’s primary objective is to advocate for a complete prohibition on the use of EVMs for voting purposes in the country.

Furthermore, we also found a report from ‘Amar Ujala’ published on 31 Jan, 2024 stated “On Wednesday, 22 organizations including Bharat Mukti Morcha, Rashtriya Kisan Morcha, Bahujan Mukti Party protested against the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) at Jantar Mantar. Protesters had gathered from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan, Bihar and other states carrying banners demanding removal of EVMs.”

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Moreover, we also found a similar video on X handle of ‘Ashish Singh’ tweeted on 14 Feb, 2024 with the caption: Indian citizen Protest against EVM in New Delhi! But Media will not show you!”

Conclusion

It is evident from the DFRAC’s fact check that the video of protest is not from after the Maharashtra election, but from Jantar Mantar, New Delhi and dates back to Jan 2024. Therefore, the claim of social media users is misleading.