Fact Check: Congress Allegation Of Maharashtra Poll Candidate Receiving Zero Votes Is False

Fact Check: A viral claim that Maharashtra Congress leader Kunal Patil received zero votes from Awadhan village is false. Patil confirms he received 1057 votes.

A video post on X with the claim was quoted tweeted by Mumbai Congress President Varsha Gaikwad with the caption, "Villagers who voted for the Congress are protesting as the results showed zero votes for Congress."

Source : X Screenshot (Modified)

CLAIM

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Video shows protests after EVMs showed Congress Dhule Rural candidate Kunal Patil getting zero votes from Awadhan village

 

FACT CHECK

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BOOM spoke to Dhule Rural Congress Candidate Kunal Patil who denied that he had got zero votes in Awadhan village. According to official figures Patil got 1057 votes from Awadhan village in Dhule Rural constituency which has four polling stations.

 

Viral social media posts claiming Maharashtra Congress leader Kunal Patil got zero votes from Awadhan village, in Maharashtra's Dhule district despite people voting for him, are false.

The claims are circulating with a video showing people protesting angrily outside a small building.

BOOM spoke to Patil who denied that claim that he got zero votes and stated that his supporters had gathered outside his house as they felt that the electronic voting machines (EVM) were not displaying the total number of votes as they had cast.

Video of supporters gathered outside Patil's house viral with "zero votes" claim

A video of his supporters gathered outside his house is being shared on social media claiming that they were protesting after EVM machines showed he got zero votes from the polling stations in the village despite it being his stronghold.

A video post on X with the claim was quoted tweeted by Mumbai Congress President Varsha Gaikwad with the caption, "Villagers who voted for the Congress are protesting as the results showed zero votes for Congress. It is the responsibility of the @ECISVEEP to convince the people that the counting were free and fair. This is not just the opposition, but common public who voted questioning the results! It is imperative that faith in democracy is restored."

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FACT-CHECK: Congress Dhule Rural candidate did not get 'Zero votes'

BOOM found that the claim is false and the Congress candidate did not get zero votes from Awadhan, Dhule district as being falsely claimed in social media posts.

Dhule's district information office's post on the viral claim

The official handle of Dhule's district information office denied the viral claim on X stating that the Congress candidate Kunal Patil got 1057 votes from Awadhan village in Dhule Rural assembly constituency which has four polling stations.

अवधानच्या चार मतदान केंद्रावर नोटासह २ हजार ८८१ मतदान झाले. यात काँग्रेस उमेदवाराला १ हजार ५७ मते मिळाली आहे. वस्तुस्थिती पाहता अवधान मतदान केंद्रावर काँग्रेसच्या उमेदवाराला शून्य मते मिळाली असा खोडसाळ, अफवा पसरविणारा, चुकीचा, दिशाभूल करणारा संदेश पसरविला जात आहे. @MahaDGIPR

— DISTRICT INFORMATION OFFICE, DHULE (@InfoDhule) November 25, 2024

This was also posted by Electoral Registration Officer of Dhule Rural on X on November 25, 2024, highlighting the polling station numbers - 247, 248, 249, and 250, which show that the Congress candidate got 227, 234, 252, and 344 votes respectively in Awadhan village.

The total votes for the Congress candidate in the village comes to 1057 votes.

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Dhule Rural Congress candidate denies 'zero votes' claim

BOOM reached out to Kunal Patil who denied the claim that he got zero votes saying, "I think someone put that out on Facebook by mistake, the protest was held in the village, as the people feel that that how many votes they cast, the results are showing less votes. For example in one place atleast Congress is getting 1400 votes while it is showing 700 votes. The zero vote was a mistake, I haven't got zero votes anywhere."

Patil also told BOOM that the viral video is from outside his house on the counting day when supporters had gathered.

Dhule Rural assembly constituency result

BJP's Raghavendra Patil won the Dhule rural assembly seat with 170398 votes and winning by a margin of 66320 votes against Congress's Kunal Patil, who got 104078 votes in the assembly constituency.

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This story was originally published by Boom as part of the Shakti Collective. Except for the headline and excerpt, this story has not been edited by ABPLIVE staff.