Recently, many users on the social media platform — WhatsApp — received a message from ‘Viksit Bharat Sampark’ seeking feedback and suggestions. Against the backdrop, it is being widely claimed that “Only those who received the WhatsApp message from Modi will be allowed to vote. You will have to present the WhatsApp message as proof while voting.”
The WhatsApp message also adds: “Make sure to keep it and if you haven’t received the message reach out to the PMO office and ask them to send it to you.”
The above post can be seen here (archive).
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim, and found it to be false.
To our surprise, we could not find any article supporting the claim.
Even the official press release by the Election Commission of India on the schedule of the 18th Lok Sabha polls does not carry any specific information about voters being required to present the message-in-question to cast their votes, except a section which highlights about the ‘Requirements for registering to vote’.
NewsMobile has reached out to ECI for a comment on the claim and the fact-check report will be updated accordingly. Hence, we can conclusively say that WhatsApp message is viral with false narratives.
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