India TV Fact Check: Lok Sabha elections 2024 dates have been announced. The high-stakes election is set to commence from April 19. Ahead of the polls, a lot of fake news is being circulated in social media. In an attempt to save you from false and fake news, we bring India TV Fact Check. The latest case of fake news is related to Lok Sabha elections. With less than two weeks left for the polls to begin, a newspaper clipping is going viral on social media claiming an amount of Rs 350 will be deducted from the bank accounts of those people who will not vote. However, in India TV's fact check, this claim has been proved to be completely fake.
What is the viral newspaper cutting?
In a newspaper cutting which went viral on social media, it was claimed that Rs 350 will be deducted from peoples' accounts for not voting in the upcoming elections. It also claimed that money will be deducted from the mobile recharge of those who do not have a bank account.
A user named Sachin Kumar posted this newspaper cutting on social media. At the same time, another user named Viraj Rawat on Facebook shared a similar post and wrote - "Individual freedom also ends, Rs 350 will be deducted from the bank account for not voting."
India TV investigates newspaper claim?
India TV decided to investigate the viral newspaper cutting which claimed that Rs 350 will be deducted from peoples' bank account if they fail to vote in the Lok Sabha elections. First of all, we took the help of Google Open Search and looked for the news with the help of keywords related to this issue.
However, we did not find any such news anywhere in which it was said that Rs 350 would be deducted from the account for not voting. After this, we took the help of social media and searched with the help of keywords. As soon as we did this, we found a tweet from the Election Commission on April 2, 2024. In this tweet, the poll body has shared the newspaper cutting going viral and called it fake. The commission has said that this claim is fake, no such decision has been taken by the Election Commission.
What was found in Fact Check?
Fact check conducted by India TV has revealed that the newspaper cutting going viral on social media is completely fake. Rs 350 will not be deducted from anyone's account for voting. Users are advised to beware of such fake posts. However, the public must exercise their franchise.
