The Bharatiya Janata Party, along with the Mahayuti Alliance, achieved a landslide victory in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections by securing a historic majority of 235 seats in the 288-member assembly and is set to retain power in the state. Following this historic victory for the NDA, social media has been abuzz with several allegations against EVMs. Concurrently, a video is circulating on X showing a large crowd protesting. It is being claimed that the video is from Maharashtra, where people are protesting against the EVM.
The handle AK Stalin sharing the video wrote, “Seeing this crowd, it seems that the public will not allow a new government formed through fraud to be formed in Maharashtra. This crowd against EVM is very huge.”
यह भीड़ देखकर लग रही है जनता महाराष्ट्र में चोरी से बनी नई सरकार बनने हि नहीं देंगी।
— A.K. Stalin (@iamAKstalin) November 27, 2024
EVM के खिलाफ यह भीड़ बहुत भारी है। pic.twitter.com/GVGFOoJNyT
Jeetu Burdak wrote, “The spark to remove EVM.”
EVM हटाने की चिंगारी… pic.twitter.com/3JeAnhRa8v
— Jeetu Burdak (@Jeetuburdak) November 26, 2024
Hukam Mehra BSP stated, “Protest against EVM started in Maharashtra, even the biggest parties of the country are saying that they don’t want EVM machines, remove EVM and bring valid papers!”
महाराष्ट्र में EVM का विरोध शुरू,देश की बड़ी बड़ी पार्टियां भी कह रही नहीं चाहिए EVM मशीन, EVM हटाओ वेलिड पेपर लाओ! #चुनाव_आयोग #EVMscam#EVM_हटाओ_लोकतंत्र_बचाओ pic.twitter.com/RQdyHSFsAA
— Hukam MehraBSP (@Hukammehra64) November 26, 2024
Shyam Yadav asserted, “Seeing this crowd, it seems that the public will not allow a new government formed through fraud to be formed in Maharashtra. This crowd against EVM is very huge.”
यह भीड़ देखकर लग रही है जनता महाराष्ट्र में चोरी से बनी नई सरकार बनने हि नहीं देंगी।
— Shyam Yadav (@shyamyadav2408) November 27, 2024
EVM के खिलाफ यह भीड़ बहुत भारी है। pic.twitter.com/NeP5cfNevU
Anjali Sharma wrote, “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.”
The spark of removing EVM has now taken the form of a movement
— Anjali Sharma (@Anjali_sharma50) November 26, 2024
In many villages of Maharashtra, people are on the streets against the Election Commission
There is deep doubt in the country about #EVM ,#ConstitutionDay "PAN 2.0" #PANCard pic.twitter.com/G9TJdBoiui
The video was also shared by many other handles like Nidhi Yadav, Shahnawaz Mangal, Hashtag Bharat News, Ashutosh Yadav, and Pappu Ram Madhur INC.
Also Read: Video of Lathi Charge on Miscreants Is Not From Sambhal
Fact Check
In our fact check research, we conducted a reverse image search of the key frames of the video. This search led us to a tweet by the handle Sujeet Pasi, who shared the same video on February 1, 2024.
We found another video shared by a handle named Ashish Singh on February 16, 2024, with a caption, “Indian citizens protesting against EVMs in New Delhi! But the media won’t show you!”
Indian citizen Protest against EVM in New Delhi!
— Ashish Singh (@AshishSinghKiJi) February 13, 2024
But Media will not show you!
Repost Tweetpic.twitter.com/nCw6G5ALvV
Taking a cue from this, we searched the relevant keywords on Google and found a report by Amar Ujala dated January 31, 2024. According to the report, 22 organizations including Bharat Mukti Morcha, Rashtriya Kisan Morcha, Bahujan Mukti Party protested against the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) at Jantar Mantar. Many protesters from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan, Bihar and other states gathered with ‘EVM Hatao’ banners in their hands. The protesters demanded that EVMs be abolished and ballot papers be used before the 2024 Lok Sabha assembly elections to conduct free and fair elections in the country.
On YouTube, OHeraldo Goa shared the same video of the protest on January 31, 2024, with the caption, ‘Nationwide movement to ban EVMs gains momentum at Jantar Mantar, Delhi.’
In conclusion, the ten months old video of a protest against EVMs is from Jantar Mantar in Delhi, where 22 organizations, protested against the use of EVMs, advocating for ballot papers to ensure free and fair elections. The video is unrelated to the Maharashtra elections.
| Claim | After Maharashtra elections, people are protesting against EVM. |
| Claimed by | AK Stalin, Jeetu Burdak and others |
| Fact Check | This is an old video showing a protest against EVMs at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. |
