A newspaper clipping is doing rounds on social media claiming that Bihar panchayat election dates have been announced and polls will be held from April 28.
The headline of one of the articles in Hindi read: “बिहार पंचायत चुनाव डेट घोषित 28 अप्रेल से होगा चुनाव” (Bihar Panchayat election date announced, elections from April 28).
A user shared the post with a caption, “बिहार में पंचायत चुनाव डेट घोषित 28 अप्रेल से होगा चुनाव मुख्यमंत्री नीतीश कुमार जी आदेश”
(Translation: Bihar Panchayat election date announced by CM Nitish Kumar, elections from April 28).
The above post can be found here.
Similar posts can be found here, here and here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above post and found it to be false.
Firstly, we checked the website of the Bihar State Election Commission but did not find any such announcement on their site.
We also checked for media reports but did not find any report that suggested that the announcement has been made.
Further, we found a report by Live Hindustan dated April 15, 2021. The headline of the report read, “Bihar Panchayat Election: Dates can be announced in two-three days, the district administration is preparing”. (Translated from Hindi)
As per the report, the district administration is engaged in preparation for the three-tier panchayat elections amidst the coronavirus pandemic. A dispute between the state and the Election Commission over the EVM model is causing the delay in the announcement of the dates.
More reports on this can be found here and here.
Further, we looked at the newspaper clipping closely and found that there has been no mention of the panchayat election in the body of the report.
A section from the report reads, “Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held talks with JDU MLAs on Monday evening and asked them to be present in the House during the Budget session”, which proves that the headline has been morphed.
In conclusion, upon analysing our findings, it is safe to say that till the time of filing this report, dates for Bihar panchayat elections had not been announced.
If you want to fact-check any story, WhatsApp it now on +91 11 7127 9799
Error: Contact form not found.