LS Polls: Old Videos of EVMs Being 'Destroyed' In Manipur, Karnataka Falsely Linked To Phase 2 Polling

Lok Sabha Polls: The CEO Manipur issued clarification on the video of EVMs being allegedly destroyed by women. A similar ECI statement was issued for a viral video being linked to voting in Karnataka.

Lok Sabha Elections: The Chief Electoral Officer Manipur on Saturday issued a clarification on a video shared by NCP-Sharad Pawar faction leader Jitendra Awhad on social media platform X, claiming that during polling in the state, women broke the EVM after they saw that after pressing any button, only BJP's election symbol lotus was being printed.

“In Manipur women broke the #EVM after they saw that after pressing any button they could see only lotus being printed A call for immediate intervention of SupremeCourt Y does not it happen that #BJP workers get angry seeing some other party symbol being printed,” Awhad claimed in a post on X.

Dubbing the video “fake news", CEO Manipur said the video pertains to a case of mob violence at a polling station in Imphal East, and repolling has already taken place there. The poll official further stated that no case of the button pressed in the ballot unit or paper slip generated through VVPAT has been alleged by anyone.

“FAKE NEWS: The video seen here is a case of mob violence in a Polling Station (3/21 Khurai Assembly Segment) in Imphal East and Re-poll has already been done in the said Polling Station on 22 April, 2024. No case of mismatch on the button pressed in the Ballot Unit and Paper Slip generated through VVPAT has been alleged by anyone or found. Legal action is being taken up for spreading FAKE NEWS,” The Manipur CEO said on X.

Meanwhile, in another incident, the Election Commission cleared the air on a video that it said was being linked with the ongoing Lok Sabha elections with mischievous intent, saying that it was an old video from Karnataka Elections 2023.

"A video is shared on X in which a Voter is destroying EVM inside a polling station, with a mischievous intent to relate it to ongoing #LokSabhaElections2024 Reality:Its an old video from #KarnatakaAssemblyElection2023. Already clarified by @ceo_karnataka," the EC said on X.

This comes after Chief Electoral Officer Karnataka took to X and clarified the video, saying that the false linkage of the concerned incident with the ongoing Lok Sabha elections is something that cannot be overlooked. "FAKE NEWS ALERT: The questionable behavior of this voter has made us dumbstruck!  A false linkage of this incident with the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections is something we cannot overlook," the CEO Karnataka wrote on X.

In the video, a man can be seen picking up the VVPAT machine and trying to destroy it by smashing it on the ground. The officials near him sprung into action, quickly got hold of him, and took him out of the room.