D K Shivakumar said INDIA bloc would form govt; viral video clipped, falsely shared

by Abira Das

A seven-second clip of Karnataka deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar was circulating on social media before the results of the 2024 general elections were out. In the video, the Congress leader says, ”I don’t believe. We will…I.N.D.I.A (alliance) will form the government.” Social media users have shared the video claiming that Shivakumar accepted defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.

Right-wing influencer Mr Sinha (@MrSinha_), who has been found peddling misinformation several times in the past, shared the clip on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption, ‘ “I don’t believe I.N.D.I.A will form the govt” – DK Shivkumar’. His tweet received over 517,200 views, 13,000 likes and 2,900 retweets.

Right-wing propaganda outlet The Jaipur Dialogues (@JaipurDialogues) also posted the viral clip with the caption, “And they accept Defeat DK Shivkumar says INDI is not forming the Government”. The tweet has received over 93,400 views, 4,900 likes and 896 retweets.

A verified user on X, @thatmarineguy21, shared the clip with a similar caption and added, “Looks like Congress Lion has accepted his defeat.” The tweet garnered over 3351 views, 180 likes and 72 retweets.

BJP IT cell functionary Abhishek Tiwari (@lkoabhishek) uploaded the viral clip and wrote, ‘ “I don’t believe I.N.D.I.A will form the govt” – DK Shivkumar He accepted why not others ??’.

Fact Check

A relevant keyword search on X led us to a 14-second-long video uploaded by ANI on June 3, 2024. At the beginning of the extended video, a journalist can be heard asking Shivakumar about his predictions on Congress winning, to which Shivakumar responds with, “All seven seats will win.” The reporter further asked him a question on exit polls to which he replied, “I don’t believe. We will… I.N.D.I.A (alliance) will form the government.” According to a Hindustan Times report, most of the exit poll surveys have predicted that the NDA would secure more than 20 out of 28 seats in Karnataka.

Times Now also uploaded an extended YouTube video-shorts, titled “Watch: Karnataka DY CM DK Shivakumar’s First Reaction To Exit Poll Results 2024 #shorts”. The video depicts the Congress leader refuting the exit poll numbers. The 7-second viral video has been clipped from the 0:07 mark of the extended clip.

On June 3, Mirror Now uploaded a video report where Shivakumar dismissed the exit polls and questioned the accuracy of the predictions.

To sum up, social media users have shared a 7-second clipped video of Congress leader DK Shivakumar and falsely claimed that the Karnataka deputy CM had accepted defeat even before the election results are out. Our fact-check revealed that the original video depicted Shivakumar refuting the exit poll numbers and stating that the INDIA alliance would form the government at the Centre.

Abira Das is an intern at Alt News.

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