Election campaigning in Telangana concluded yesterday, and the voting is to be held on November 30. Yesterday, following the campaign’s closure, the Congress IT cell launched a false narrative that an NDTV survey had confirmed their party’s lead in most Telangana seats. Today, another piece of propaganda is underway. Congress supporters are claiming that the Intelligence Bureau (IB) released a report that indicates Congress is getting the majority in Telangana. The alleged report which is supposedly from IB was also attached with the tweets. The report said that as per ground assessments, Congress is leading in the southern state and is expected to win more than 72 seats.
The handle Geetha Ainala (Archived link), sharing the image of the report wrote, “Game over for #BRS. IB report says it’s a clear majority for Congress in #Telangana @INCTelangana Intelligence bureau has predicted this: BRS: 34 – 37, Congress: 71 – 74, BJP: 2 – 4, Others:6 – 8. This report has been reportedly submitted to the Union Home ministry.”
The chairman of INC of Puducherry, Korkado Ashok (Archived link), wrote, “IB report says its a clear majority for Congress in #Telangana Intelligence bureau has predicted this: BRS : 34 – 37 Congress : 71 – 74 BJP : 2 – 4 Others: 6 – 8.”
Many other handles Dabangg Reddy (Archived link), and Telangana President INTUC (Archived link) also propagated the same report along with the same claim.
Also Read: Viral Claim “NDTV Poll Confirms Congress Win in Telangana” is Fake
In our fact check report, Only Fact tried to analyze the authenticity of the viral IB report. Questions were raised in the report because the logo seen in the upper right corner of the report is not the logo of the Intelligence Bureau. The logo clearly reads “Research and Analysis Wing.”
The difference between the IB and RAW logo can be clearly seen in the picture given below:
Furthermore, IB is considered to be the oldest intelligence agency in the world that is still functioning. According to AllGov.com website As India’s internal security organisation, the IB is officially a part of the Ministry of Home Affairs, tasked with mitigating domestic threats. Nonetheless, the Director of the IB answers directly to the Prime Minister and is a member of the National Security Council as well as the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) of the Strategic Policy Group. The agency is believed to be in charge of counter-terrorism, counter-intelligence, intelligence gathering in border areas, protecting infrastructure, and preventing secession, even though its exact duties are still unknown. Along with other international agencies, the IB works with other Indian law enforcement and intelligence groups, notably RAW (Research and Analysis Wing), India’s external intelligence agency, and the recently established Defense Intelligence Agency. However, the job description of the Intelligence Bureau does not include polling people or conducting on-the-ground assessments to predict election outcomes.
This is not the first time that a fake IB election prediction report has gone viral on social media ahead of elections. In the past well, many such fake reports of poll prediction linking it to IB were made viral. Intelligence agencies have also expressed concern over this.
| Claim | IB report says Congress is winning 72 seats in Telangana |
| Claimed by | X users |
| Fact Check | Fake |
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