Fact Check: Intelligence Bureau did not publish pre-poll survey report on YSRC victory
The Assembly elections will be conducted on May 13, 2024, in Andhra Pradesh along with the Parliament elections. The political atmosphere is charged up in the state with parties undertaking campaigning and releasing manifestos.
IB
The Assembly elections will be conducted on May 13, 2024, in Andhra Pradesh along with the Parliament elections. The political atmosphere is charged up in the state with parties undertaking campaigning and releasing manifestos. In this backdrop, different types of misinformation is being spread like fake pre-poll surveys, modified statements of leaders, morphed images, and doctored videos of the candidates from the parties on social media.
One such social media post shared by several users is that the Intelligence Bureau has published a report about YSRC party’s victory in the upcoming elections. The posts claim that YSRCP will clinch power for a second consecutive term winning 124 seats. The NDA Alliance will be limited to 52 seats. These results are claimed to be published by the IB which conducted a secret survey in AP. The report also claims to show 51% votes in favour of YSRCP.
The claim in Telugu shared goes “కేంద్ర ఇంటలిజెన్స్ రిపోర్టులో వైసీపీదే ప్రభంజనం 124 సీట్లతో వైసీపీ అధికారంలోకి వస్తుందన్న నిఘా సంస్థ ఐబీ 51 సీట్లకే పరిమితం కాబోతున్న ఎన్టీయే కూటమి ఇటీవలే ఏపీలో రహస్య సర్వే నిర్వహించిన ఇంటలిజెన్స్ బ్యూరో 51 శాతం ఓటు బ్యాంకుతో మళ్లీ వైఎస్సార్ కాంగ్రెస్ పార్టీ అధికారంలోకి!! “
Fact Check:
The claim is False. Intelligence Bureau did not publish any such reports.
The Intelligence Bureau is an organization that deals with the internal and external security issues of the country and does not conduct any secret surveys on polls.
India’s Intelligence Bureau is a reputed and established intelligence agency. The intelligence bureau is authoritatively controlled by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Director IB (DIB), who is a member of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), is the chief of the Intelligence Bureau. It is considered as the internal agency responsible for monitoring all aspects of governance. It is entrusted with countering terrorism. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) closely monitors developments relating to parliamentary undertakings and reports back to the Cabinet Secretariat. The Special Enquiry and Surveillance Unit (SES) of the Intelligence Bureau handles most of this work.
The Intelligence Bureau’s main objective is to gather intelligence. The agency does this with the use of several overt and covert practices. The responsibilities of IB can involve surveillance (both physical and electronic), research, interception of communication, infiltration (IB agents can be found working in other professions, for example), and something as casual as chatting with journalists gathered outside Parliament. The IB cannot arrest you. The IB cannot interrogate you. Neither can an IB officer demand that you show him that hypothetical stash of cash hidden under your bed.
The election process or results are not dealt with by the Intelligence Bureau.
When we searched the social media handles of the government agency, we did not find any such reports.
ETV Andhra Pradesh published a TV report stating that some miscreants are sharing fake news using the breaking news template of ETV. The organization has filed a complaint with the cybercrime police in Hyderabad against these social media users who created the fake templates.
Andhrajyothy website also published an article stating that the survey report in circulation is fake and that the Central Intelligence Bureau has not shared any such report.
Hence, the pre-poll survey report published in the name of the Intelligence Bureau is Fake. The government agency has not published the viral survey report. The claim is False.