Fact-Check | 2019 video, which falsely claimed ‘proxy voting by Indian Army’ for BJP, shared again during 2024 Lok Sabha polls

New Delhi: An X (formerly Twitter) user shared a video of some individuals confronting uniformed personnel, accusing them of proxy voting in favour of the BJP. The user claimed that the Indian Army personnel were “caught red-handed inside election booth for influencing voters to cast fake votes for BJP” during the third phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. In its investigation, the PTI Fact Check Desk found that the same video was shared with the false claim in 2019. The same video with the same claim was shared on social media again during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Claim

An X user shared on May 7 a video of some men confronting uniformed personnel, standing near what looked like an Indian Army vehicle. The user claimed that the Indian Army was indulging in proxy voting and influencing people to cast fake votes in favour of the BJP in the third phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

“BIG BREAKING

The BJP is using the army to cast fake votes.

INDIAN ARMY has been assigned to do ILLEGAL & FRAUDULENT work for the BJP.

Caught RED handed inside the Election Booths to influence voters for FAKE Votes to the BJP,” read the caption of the post.

Here is the link and archive link to the post, and below is a screenshot of the same:

Investigation

Starting the investigation, the Desk ran the video through InVid Tool Search and found a few keyframes. On running one of the keyframes through Google Lens, we came across another X post carrying the same video with an identical claim.

Here is the link and archive link to the post, and below is a screenshot of the same:

The same video was also shared on Instagram with a similar claim. Here is the link and archive link to one such post, and below is a screenshot of the same:

The video has also been widely shared on YouTube. Three such posts can be seen here, here and here, and their archived versions can be seen here, here and here, respectively:

On further investigation of the search results, the Desk came across a quote tweet on the viral post, which claimed the video dated back to 2019 and stated that the Indian Army had complained back then.

The user also shared a purported screenshot of a Times of India article which carried a letter by Lt General GS Sangha, whose headline read: “We won’t be cowed down by propaganda”.

A second screenshot shared in the X post was of a purported police complaint lodged by the Indian Army at Sadar Police Station in Jabalpur against the men seen in the video.

Here is the link and archive link to the comment, and below is a screenshot of the same:

Taking a cue from this, the Desk conducted a keyword search on Google. It came across a report by the Times of India, published on May 3, 2019, whose headline read: “Gen comes out fighting for Army after viral video seeks to malign soldiers”.

Here is the link to the report, and below is a screenshot of the same:

According to the report, “The Army has reacted with outrage to a viral video clip where some soldiers, who had gone to cast their vote in a polling booth in Jabalpur, are accused of canvassing for a party.”

“The Army approached police on Thursday, alleging that goons tried to snatch voter IDs of soldiers and family members, obstructed them from casting a vote in Jabalpur Cantonment area, and circulated a video to malign the image of force,” it added.

“The video was taken during polling on April 29. The soldiers are seen trying their best not to get provoked as some men follow them around and accuse them of siding with a party,” the report read further.

During our investigation, we found a Facebook post shared on May 1, 2019, which carried the same video.

Here is the link and archive link to the post, and below is a screenshot of the same:

On another keyword search on Google, the Desk came across a report by The New Indian Express, published on May 2, 2019. The report headline read: “Army officers claim miscreants obstructed them from casting votes in Madhya Pradesh, lodge complaint”.

Here is the link to the report, and below is a screenshot of the same:

The report quoted a letter from the Indian Army about the incident. “On 29 April 2019, the day of voting for Parliamentary Elections, soldiers and their spouses of the Grenadiers Regimental Centre proceeded to cast their votes on a bona fide transport viz Army vehicle at Booth no 146, Swami Vivekananda Higher Secondary School, Katanga, Jabalpur. At booth no 146, when the soldiers of the Indian Army were in the process of exercising their right to vote, certain miscreants approached and snatched their voter identity cards by using criminal force and tried to obstruct them from casting their votes,” read the letter dated May 1, 2019.

Subsequently, the Desk concluded that a 2019 video was falsely shared as recent on social media, linking it to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

CLAIM

Indian Army personnel were caught indulging in proxy voting and influencing people to cast fake votes in favour of the BJP in the third phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

FACT

The video relates to an incident in MP’s Jabalpur during the voting for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

CONCLUSION

Several social media users shared a video showing some men confronting uniformed personnel, who they claimed were Indian Army personnel indulging in proxy voting for the BJP during the third phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. In its investigation, the Desk found that the video was from an incident dating back to April 2019 during the general election voting. It was falsely shared as recent on social media with misleading claims.

This story was originally published by PTI Fact Check, and republished by Deccan Herald as part of the Shakti Collective.