Ahead of the first phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024, quoting a pre-poll mega survey on social media in the name of Nelson-Dainik Bhaskar, I.N.D.I alliance claims lead in 10 states including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Telangana. In their investigation Vishvas News found the viral claim to be fake. No such survey has been conducted by Dainik Bhaskar, neither have they published it.
Claim:
X user, ‘Priyamwada’ shared the viral survey and wrote, “Abki Bar BJP Tadipar Dainik Bhaskar-Nelson Survey: In 10 states INDIA alliance is leading & could cross 200 in these 10 states alone. Even in the Hindi heartland states, Modi’s image is not enough to get votes for the BJP. NDA is looking at washout from Bihar, Bengal & Maharashtra.#BJPbelow180″
Check the archive version of the claim here.
Other users too are sharing the survey with similar claims.
Investigation:
Based on the claim made in the viral post, we did not find any such report on Dainik Bhaskar’s website or their social media handle which mentioned the data of the mega survey. During the investigation we found a tweet shared on the official X handle of Dainik Bhaskar on April 13, 2024, in which this survey was called out as fake.
Also, action was demanded against the people sharing this fake survey. The viral post contains a screenshot of the first page of Dainik Bhaskar newspaper, which mentions the Bhopal edition and the date of April 13. We checked the Bhopal edition of the relevant date and found that no such survey was published on that day in the newspaper, rather the first news was related to unprecedented rainfall.
We then reached out the national editor of Dainik Bhaskar, LP Pant. He clarified that the survey is fake and that Dainik Bhaskar did not publish any such survey.
The social media user that published the fake survey has over 35 thousand followers.
According to the notification of the Election Commission of India, the Lok Sabha elections 2024, to be held in a total of seven phases, will begin with the first phase of voting on April 19, under which voting will be held on a total of 102 seats.
Conclusion: The pre-election survey going viral in the name of Nelson-Dainik Bhaskar before the first phase of voting, claiming lead for INDI Alliance in 10 states is fake.
(This story was originally published by Vishvas News, and republished by Lighthouse Journalism as a part of the Shakti Collective)
