A newspaper clipping is doing rounds on social media claiming that counterfeit EVM machines have been seized from a BJP leader’s house.
The headline of the article in Hindi read: “भाजपा नेता के घर से नक़ली ईवीएम जब्त” (Translation: Counterfeit EVM seized from BJP leader’s house)
A user shared the post with a caption, “बंगाल में पूर्ण बहुमत से सरकार बनाने की पूरी तैयारी हो चुकी है भाइयों.” (Translation- All preparations have been made to form a government with an absolute majority in Bengal, brothers)
The above post can be found here.
A similar post can be found here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above post and found it to be misleading.
Firstly, on putting the picture through Reverse Image Search along with relevant keywords, we found the same clipping on Twitter, uploaded on December 9, 2018.
“भाजपा नेता के घर से 66 नकली EVM जब्त”
EVM में कोई बटन दबाओ वोट बीजेपी को जाती है, EVM की मशीन बीजेपी नेता के घर से मिलती है।
बीजेपी 2019 का चुनाव हार रही है इसलिए वोटरो के नाम कटवा रही है या EVM में गड़बड़ी कर रही है यह दो तरीके से वह चुनाव जीत सकती है। pic.twitter.com/e10lWOuxTQ
— Amit Mishra (@Amitjanhit) December 9, 2018
This proves that the clipping is old.
We found a similar picture in a report by Patrika dated December 4, 2018. The headline of the report loosely translates to ‘Police seizes 66 EVM promotional material’.
The report stated that police caught hold of 66 EVM promotional models in a house in Beawar, Ajmer in Rajasthan. The election symbol and name of Independent candidate Surendra Goyal of Jaitaran was inscribed on the machine.
There is no mention of any BJP leader in the report.
We also found an India TV report on a separate incident, dated December 8, 2018, which stated that EVM machines have been recovered from the residence of a BJP candidate. The headline of the report read, “Rajasthan: EVM reportedly found at residence of BJP candidate, EC orders removal of Pali Returning Officer.”
As per the report, a sector officer carrying a reserve machine had gone to the BJP candidate’s house following which the sector officer was removed and the EVM was taken out of the election system.
The incident was reported by Business Standard on December 8, 2018.
The report stated that the Election Commission also ordered the removal of Pali returning officer Mahaveer.
We looked for any recent media reports about seizing of EVMs from any BJP leader’s house but could not find anything related to the claim.
In conclusion, upon analysing our findings, it is safe to say that a newspaper clipping from 2018 about fake EVMs seized from a leader’s house is being recirculated ahead of the upcoming assembly polls.
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