By Anmol Alphonso
A screenshot claiming to show India Today's Mood of the Nation survey predicting 17 Lok Sabha seats for the Samajwadi Party is edited. BOOM found that the original screenshot actually shows the survey predicting seven seats for the Akhilesh Yadav led SP.
The first phase and second phase of voting in the Lok Sabha 2024 election was on April 19, 2024 and April 26. There are total 7 phases of voting and the results would be declared on June 4, 2024. Uttar Pradesh has the most Lok Sabha seats - 80. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance is contesting against the opposition led I.N.D.I.A alliance which include SP and Congress.
The viral screenshot was posted on X by the handle @surya_samajwadi with the caption when translated from Hindi reads, "India Today in its survey of Uttar Pradesh ~ SP has been given 17 seats ~ Congress has been given 5 seats. Just wait and watch, this is just the beginning, SP will win more than 30 seats alone"
(In Hindi - इंडिया टुडे ने उत्तर प्रदेश के अपने सर्वे में ~ सपा को 17 सीट दी है ~ कांग्रेस को 5 सीट दी है बस देखते जाओ ये तो बस शुरुआत है, सपा 30 से अधिक सीटें अकेले जीतेगी)
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral screenshot is edited and the predicted numbers in the graphic are not the actual numbers shown in the India Today Mood of the Nation survey.
We checked the the original live stream on India Today's YouTube channel on March 20, 2024. At the 1.35.52 minutes timestamp, we can see the original numbers broadcasted the channel in their survey. The survey had predicted seven seats for the SP and not 17 seats as in the edited graphic.
The survey had given the BJP - 70 seats, Apna Dal - 2 seats, Congress - 1 seat, SP - 7, BSP - 0, and others zero in Uttar Pradesh.
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A comparison of the edited and original graphic can be seen below:
