Video of 'vote manipulation' from 2019 Indian general elections shared as recent

What is the claim? 

A day after the sixth phase of voting for the ongoing 2024 Indian general elections concluded on May 25, a video was shared on social media, with several social users alleging that it showed evidence of votes being manipulated.

The viral footage shows a queue of voters inside a polling booth with some people sitting around. As the voters proceed to cast their votes one by one, a man goes up to them and appears to give them directions on what button to press on the voting machine. Several users on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram shared the video, claiming that it showed rigging of votes during the ongoing polls. One user wrote, “When elections are to be held like this, then why are they making so much noise (translated from Hindi)?” and used several hashtags related to the 2024 general elections, insinuating that the video is recent. Another user shared the video and claimed that this was how Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party was planning to reach the 400-seat mark. A common boast by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the ongoing elections is that they will win 400 seats in the Parliament. Archived versions of such posts can be accessed here, here, and here.

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

However, the claim is misleading. The video shows an incident from the 2019 general elections, not 2024. Further, the man seen in the video was a polling agent who was later arrested.

How did we find the truth?

A reverse image search on keyframes of the viral video revealed that it dates back to 2019. 

The clip was published on Hindustan Times’ official YouTube channel (archived here) on May 13, 2019, with the title “Poll agent arrested for influencing voters at Faridabad booth.” The video was captured inside a booth on May 12 in Asawati, Prithla constituency in Faridabad, in the North Indian state of Haryana, during the sixth phase of voting for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The man in the viral video was a polling agent who was allegedly trying to influence voters, the video description said. An FIR was lodged against him, and he was arrested, it further said.

The video went viral on social media in May 2019, following which the District Election Office (DEO) Faridabad responded on X (archived here), stating that an FIR (first information report) had been lodged against the polling agent and that he had been arrested. The DEO further stated, “The system acted well in time and the wrongdoer is behind bars. Thanks to all the voters for showing so much trust on the Election Commission of India (sic).”

What did the authorities say?

According to reports, after the video of alleged poll rigging was found to be genuine, the Election Commission ordered a repoll at the booth in Faridabad. The repolling was held on May 19, 2019, in the last phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The poll body had stated, “On enquiry by the Observer, the complaint was found to be true. Commission has, therefore, ordered a fresh poll at this polling station on 19th of May 2019 (sic).” 

Then Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa had also addressed the matter on X (archive here).

A screenshot of the clarification post by former ELection Commissioner Ashok Lavasa. (Source: X/Screenshot)

Amit Atri, the presiding officer of the booth, was also arrested for alleged dereliction of duty, Hindustan Times reported. Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) Bharat Bhushan Gogia conducted an inquiry and wrote to Palwal Superintendent of Police against Atri, saying that the latter’s conduct and behavior were “suspicious and encouraged malpractices, which is dereliction and guilty of breach of his official duty as per Section 134 of Representation of People Act 1951.”

According to the daily, Kuldeep Singh, station house officer at Sadar Palwal police station, identified the man in the viral video as Giriraj Singh. “Giriraj, a BJP polling agent, was arrested Asaoti in the later hours of Sunday after a complaint was filed. He had left the polling booth much earlier. We also went through the videos of the incident that we had received on WhatsApp. The presiding officer was also arrested on Sunday after he was found guilty of not taking action,” Singh said.

NDTV had reported that Giriraj Singh denied all the allegations and said that he was trying to help “illiterate” women to cast their votes.

The verdict

An old video from 2019 has been shared to insinuate that it shows poll rigging during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The incident happened in Faridabad, where a polling agent allegedly tried to influence the voters. He was arrested later. Therefore, we have marked this claim as misleading.