No, video doesn't show Election Commission of India removing Aam Aadmi Party's election posters

What is the claim?

A video of a man on a moving truck pulling down banners from an electricity post has been shared online with a claim that he removed the posters of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in accordance with the Model Code of Conduct, but the flags of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were left untouched. 

Social media users have claimed that the Election Commission of India is “undermining” the election campaign of AAP ahead of the general elections in India. The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into force on March 16, 2024, after the election commission announced the dates for the Lok Sabha elections. The code is a set of guidelines for the political parties during elections.  

A social media user shared the viral video (archived here) on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption, “Shame on you @ECISVEEP Once Model Code of Conduct is enforced, every Govt Agency will be under the ECI's Control. They allowed the arrest of Chief of One of the ONLY 5 National Political Parties. Now, they are selectively undermining AAP's Campaign. Free & Fair Election (sic).” The post garnered over 1,60,000 views. Archives of similar posts can be found here and here.

Screenshots of the viral posts.(Source: X/ Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the video shows a person removing the flags of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), which is the youth wing of the Congress party. The video was shot in January 2024, months before the Model Code of Conduct was implemented. 

How did we verify this?

The viral video bears the watermark of 'NSUIRajasthanOfficial’ with an Instagram logo. Typically, this happens when the original video is downloaded from an Instagram user's account. We found the video on NSUI Rajasthan's Instagram account, uploaded on January 14, 2024. 

The caption of the video states that it is from Jaipur, a city in the North Indian state of Rajasthan. It also adds that the posters were removed on the orders of the state’s Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma ahead of NSUI Rajasthan State President Vinod Jakhar’s visit to the city.

The now-viral video was also shared on NSUI Rajasthan’s X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook accounts on January 14, 2024. This indicates that the video was online before the elections were announced.

A closer look at the video also shows that the posters have the words ‘Vinod Jakhar’ and ‘NSUI State President’ written on them. This shows that the posters were not of the Aam Aadmi Party. 

Screenshot from the viral video.(Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

We contacted Rajesh Jhakar, Vinod Jakhar's brother and an NSUI worker, who said, "This video is from January 13 and was uploaded on January 14. These posters were put up when my brother (Vinod Jakhar) came to Rajasthan for the first time after becoming the state president of NSUI. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar also came to Rajasthan on the same day, but on the orders of the administration, only the posters of NSUI were removed, not those of BJP.”

Jakhar shared more photgraphs of the posters with us. The words “Hearty congratulations and best wishes to Vinod Jakhar on being elected Rajasthan NSUI State President (translated from Hindi)” can be clearly seen on them. Vinod Jhakar was elected as Rajasthan NSUI President on January 7, 2024.

Photos shared by Rajesh Jhakar with Logically Facts.(Source: Rajesh Jhakar)

The verdict

The viral video shows a man removing NSUI posters in Jaipur, Rajasthan on January 13, 2024. The video was shot months before the elections were announced. Therefore, we have marked the claim as false.

(Translated by Azra Ali)