No, BJP has not won thirty seats with less than five hundred votes; smallest margin 1587 in Jajpur

After the announcement of the 2024 Lok Sabha election results, some Congress-linked social media accounts have claimed that BJP won 30 seats with a margin of less than 500 votes and 100 seats with less than 1000, implying foul play in the counting process.

The chairman of the SC department of Congress Gujarat, Hitendra Pithadiya (@HitenPithadiya), wrote on X (formerly Twitter), ”This is really alarming!! BJP has won 30 seats with a margin of less than 500. Won more than 100 seats with a margin of less than 1000. These seats should be analysed. Meaning this figure could have possibly been 240-130 = 110″.

This is really alarming!!

BJP has won 30 seats with a margin of less than 500.

Won more than 100 seats with a margin of less than 1000.

These seats should be analysed

Meaning this figure could have possibly been 240-130 = 110

— Hitendra Pithadiya 🇮🇳 (@HitenPithadiya) June 6, 2024

All India Congress Committee secretary BM Sandeep (@BMSandeepAICC) also amplified the claim and added, “The magic of EVM’s & @ECISVEEP needs to be investigated… These seats should be analysed by by 3 retired SC Justices. – Ashoka University professor had to resign for saying there is a scope of manipulation in such small numbers. If manipulation has been done at the behest of PM Narendra Modi then this figure could have been 240-130= 110 seats for the NDA.” Sandeep was referring to a research paper published by former Ashoka University assistant professor Sabyasachi Das who highlighted electoral frauds and calculated that BJP had won 11 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls by a less than 5% win margin. Das later resigned from his post at the university.

The magic of EVM’s & @ECISVEEP needs to be investigated

The BJP has ➖

– Won 30 seats with a margin of less than 500 votes .

– Won more than 100 seats with a margin of less than 1000 votes.

These seats should be analysed by by 3 retired SC Justices.

– Ashoka University…

— B M Sandeep (@BMSandeepAICC) June 6, 2024

The East Bangalore Congress Sevadal (@Sevadaleblr) also amplified the claim.

What would you call this scam?

BJP won 30 seats with a margin of less than 500.

Won more than 100 seats by a margin of less than 1000 pic.twitter.com/aJfCWhBkYd

— East Bangalore Congress Sevadal (@Sevadaleblr) June 6, 2024

Fact Check

We checked the Election Commission of India website and found a list of all winning BJP candidates and their winning margins. We found that BJP did not win any seat by a margin of 500 or 1000 votes. The lowest BJP win margin was in Jajpur, Odisha where Rabindra Narayan Behera defeated BJD’s Sarmistha Sethi by 1587 votes.

Hence, the claim by Congress leaders that the BJP won 30 seats with a margin of less than 500 votes and 100 seats with less than 1000 is false. The lowest win margin of the BJP was 1587 votes in the Jajpur seat in Odisha.

Abira Das is an intern at Alt News.