Videos of EVM destruction from Manipur wrongly connected to vote manipulations
Debates and discussions on the usage of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) usually occur during voting cycles in the country. Amongst such discussions, a video from Manipur has been getting attention. It is being claimed that the demolition of EVM sets seen in the video is a result of EVM manipulation, after the women from Manipur noticed that the machine was printing only a lotus ballot slip on pressing any party’s button for voting. The video was shared by Dr. Jitendra Awhad, a leader from Nationalist Congress Party- Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SCP) on April 27, 2024.
In #Manipur women broke the #EVM after they saw that after pressing any button they could see only lotus being printed
A call for immediate intervention of #SupremeCourt
Y does not it happen that #BJP workers get angry seeing some other party symbol being printed @ECISVEEP pic.twitter.com/n5lcbHePjD— Dr.Jitendra Awhad (@Awhadspeaks) April 27, 2024
Many other accounts also shared this video with the manipulation claims.
मणिपुर में महिलाओं ने EVM को तब तोड़ दिया जब उन्होंने देखा कि कोई भी बटन दबाने पर उन्हें केवल कमल ही छपता दिख रहा है।
राजा की आत्मा EVM में है, जिसका यह परिणाम है!
सुप्रीमकोर्ट से निवेदन है कि तत्काल हस्तक्षेप कर घटना का संज्ञान ले।@ECISVEEP pic.twitter.com/mFGbtcWSmU
— UP Congress (@INCUttarPradesh) April 27, 2024
Manipur women broke the EVM after they found Lotus Printed, pressing any button #prajasarkarnews #prajasarkar1minnews #bjp #manipur #india #bjpindia #bjpmanipur #congressmanipur #congressindia pic.twitter.com/AoR0Pcd9Tw
— Praja Sarkar (@PrajaSarkarNews) April 29, 2024
Truth
On reverse image search, it was found that the video was being falsely claimed as a result of lotus ballot slip prints. It was actually a case of proxy voting allegations, as mentioned in the article by The Quint. Issues in the voting process were recorded as cases of booth capturing and intimidation emerged. A video posted by NDTV further shows the original clip of the false video.
In the latest updates, a case has been registered against Awhad for the false claims he made and spread through his X post.
Case registered against NCP-SCP leader Jitendra Awhad for sharing a fake video and claiming there is a mismatch between the button pressed in the Ballot Unit and Paper Slip generated through VVPAT. Case registered under 120Β/203/505(1)(2)/171-C /171-E IPC & 123/136 RP Act:… pic.twitter.com/TFZACuqfQB
— ANI (@ANI) April 27, 2024