Om Thanvi, founding vice-chancellor of the Haridev Joshi University of Journalism and Mass Communication, tweeted a video on March 4, 2022. The clip was taken from a News18 broadcast in which a group of people claim BJP workers paid them for not casting their votes, and falsely applied ink on their fingers. It has been claimed that the incident occurred in the Tarajivanpur village in Uttar Pradesh, located in the Chandauli district. The footage garnered over 4,000 retweets and was liked by over 9,000 handles. (Archive link)
दुनिया का सबसे बड़ा लोकतंत्र! 😏 pic.twitter.com/6cDlBTiO3q
— Om Thanvi (@omthanvi) March 4, 2022
The video is circulating against the backdrop of the recently-concluded UP elections. Twitter user ‘@dhrubachoudhur5’ also promoted this video with a similar claim. (Archive link)
यह तो हद हो गया @narendramodi जी और @myogiadityanath जी…कुछ भी करलो…हारना तो तय है…
आप भी देखिये…और अधिक से अधिक इसको शेयर करें ताकि सबको पता चले…
End… pic.twitter.com/q02tNIqo7P
— Dhruba Budhadev Choudhury✋🏿 (@dhrubachoudhur5) March 5, 2022
North-East Mumbai Congress Seva Dal further amplified the claim. (Archive link)
वाह मोदी जी वाह,
भाजपा का हारना तय है…
इसीलिए ऐसा पैसों से वोट खरीदा जा रहे है…Part -2 pic.twitter.com/ovuS6id363
— North East Mumbai Congress Sevadal (@SevadalNEM) March 5, 2022
Several other users on Facebook and Twitter posted this video, linking it to UP assembly elections.
Fact-check
Quote-tweeting Thanvi’s tweet, Chandauli police clarified that the incident is actually from 2019. It also said that appropriate action was taken during the case.
प्रकरण वर्ष 2019 लोकसभा चुनाव के समय का है जिसमें तत्समय आवश्यक कार्यवाही की जा चुकी है इसे #विधानसभाचुनाव2022 से जोड़ कर कृपया बिना तथ्यों की सही जानकारी व पुष्टि के भ्रामकता न फैलाएं।#UPPolice @UPPViralCheck https://t.co/Af0rEGy8DH pic.twitter.com/BR5eMFWB3I
— Chandauli Police (@chandaulipolice) March 5, 2022
A News18 article dated May 19, 2019, carried the viral footage. Residents from a Dalit basti in the Tarajivanpur village claimed that BJP workers paid them Rs 500 in return for not voting. They also alleged that their fingers were marked with ink. The report states, “Chandauli SDM Harsh Kumar explained that he received information about residents in a Dalit basti of the Tarajivanpur village who were involved in a cash for votes scheme. They alleged that BJP workers paid them for not voting and marked their fingers.”
It is noteworthy that BJP state president Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey was campaigning from Chandauli during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In the viral video, the workers are levelling accusations against him. Pandey is currently a BJP MP from the Chandauli constituency.
ANI UP/Uttarakhand also tweeted some pictures of the incident on May 19, 2019. The post quoted SDM Harsh Kumar as saying that a complaint had been registered in this matter. He added that the complainant was still eligible to vote since the election had not yet commenced. The SDM also stated that the complainants would have to mention in the FIR that ink was forcefully applied on their fingers.
Chandauli: Residents of Tara Jivanpur village allege ink was forcefully applied to their fingers & they were given Rs 500 y’day by 3 men of their village. Say, “They were from BJP&asked us if we’ll vote for the party. They told us now you can’t vote. Don’t tell anyone.” (18.05) pic.twitter.com/yICJKNPwdt
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) May 19, 2019
To sum it up, during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, people from the Tarajivanpur village in Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh accused BJP workers of bribing them to not cast their votes. A video of the incident was falsely circulated in connection with the recent Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
The post BJP accused of bribing voters in 2019, video falsely linked to recent UP polls appeared first on Alt News.
