Fact Check | Claim of Congress candidate getting 'zero votes' in Maharashtra Assembly polls false

New Delhi: Following the Maharashtra Assembly election results, a video clip of a crowd protesting was shared on social media, with users claiming it to be from Avadhan village in Dhule Rural Assembly constituency. Those sharing the posts alleged that Congress candidate Kunalbaba Rohidas Patil received "zero votes” there. However, a PTI Fact Check investigation has found the claim to be false.

On November 25, a Facebook user shared the viral video, claiming, "Seventy per cent of the people in Maharashtra's Avadhan village are protesting. The reason is that despite casting their votes for Congress, the party received zero votes here. Now the public is taking to the streets to reveal this. How much more evidence is needed of BJP's vote manipulation?" The video has been widely shared on social media, viewed by millions, and believed by many users to be true.

A reverse search of keyframes from the video led to an identical post by an 'X' user named Dr. Sangram Gokulsingh Patil.

Dhule's District Information Office clarified that no such incident had occurred in Avadhan village.

The office stated, "It is unclear where this video was recorded. Additionally, Rohan Kuwar, the election returning officer for Dhule Rural constituency, confirmed that no such incident has been reported in Dhule." The District Information Office further explained that Avadhan village in Dhule Rural constituency has four polling stations -- 247, 248, 249, and 250.

According to the assistant election officer for Dhule Rural, Kunalbaba Rohidas Patil received 227, 234, 252, and 344 votes at these polling stations, respectively.

Information from the official X account of the Dhule Rural election registration officer corroborated that Kunalbaba Rohidas Patil received 1,057 votes across the four polling stations in Avadhan.

According to data on the Election Commission's website, BJP candidate Raghvendra (Ramdada) Manohar Patil won the Dhule Rural Assembly seat by 66,320 votes. He secured a total of 1,70,398 votes, while Congress candidate Kunalbaba Rohidas Patil garnered 1,04,078 votes.

In the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the BJP-led MahaYuti alliance secured a majority by winning 230 out of 288 seats. The Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) managed to win only 46 seats.

The fact-check revealed that the viral claim made through the video is false. The District Information Office has also confirmed this. However, the origin of the viral video remains unclear.

Maharashtra Assembly poll 2024 results | Check constituency results here

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Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls took place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP went up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress tried to make their mark. Maha Yuti are currently comfortably poised to win. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faced a challenge after Hemant Soren's arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP, but look set to retain power with its I.N.D.I.A. allies. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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