As the western state of Maharashtra prepared for the November 20 parliamentary elections, film material of people singing Hindu slogan was shared repeatedly in posts with a false claim that it shows a campaign event in the state. The reports surfaced as the state’s opposition bloc challenged the ruling coalition led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, the video was filmed in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and previously appeared online in February 2022.
“Maharashtra vote. Maharashtra election campaign started in a very beautiful way,” read a Facebook post written in a mix of English and Hindi, shared on November 7, 2024.
It included a video showing people in a high-rise building on their balconies singing ‘Jai Shri Ram’ – a popular religious chant among India’s majority Hindu population (archived link).
Screenshot of the fake post, taken on November 7, 2024
The two-minute, 29-second video was shared with the false claim elsewhere on Facebook, here and on social media site X.
The reports emerged ahead of the November 20 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections, where the opposition bloc that includes the Indian National Congress party – accused by critics of being too favorable to the Muslim minority – hopes to destroy the ruling coalition of the is led by BJP (archived link).
However, the video in the fake posts was not filmed in the state.
Incorrectly displayed images
A reverse image search of keyframes on Google revealed that the video was published on Facebook on February 15, 2022. The caption stated that the video was shot in the city of Kanpur in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh (archived link).
A video of the same scene was also shared on Facebook on February 12, 2022 (archived link).
The post said the clip shows right-wing Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leading a ‘prabhat pheri’ – a ritual of morning processions while chanting religious texts – at several apartment complexes in Kanpur.
The caption also said it was filmed at an apartment complex called Diviniti Homes.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video as seen in the fake posts (left) and in the 2022 post (right):
Screenshot comparison of the video in the fake posts (left) and one of the 2022 Facebook posts (right)
AFP was able to confirm the location of the video by comparing it with Google Street View footage of the Diviniti Homes apartment complex (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video (left) and its location on Google Maps (right), with similar elements highlighted:
Screenshot comparison of the video (left) and its location on Google Maps (right)
The claim was previously debunked by Indian fact-checking website Newschecker.
AFP has debunked misinformation surrounding the vote in Maharashtra.
