In its Karnataka election campaign, BJP has been propagating that 23 of their workers had been killed by ‘jehadi’ forces in the past five years. BJP MP from Udupi Shobha Karandlaje had written a letter to the Home Ministry last year listing the 23 names, with a man named Ashok Poojary at the top of the list.

However, Ashok Poojary is alive, reported NDTV. Poojary, a worker of the Bajrang Dal and BJP told NDTV he was attacked by six men in 2015. “I was in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) for 15 days. They thought I was going to die. But then thanks to God, I made it.”

He reportedly received a call from Shobha Karandlaje admitting she added her name by mistake.

While Karandlaje had listed 23 killed by jehadis, the claim has been questioned. The Siddaramaiah government has also denied the claims, saying that 14 deaths had nothing to do with Muslim attackers.

This is only one in the flood of fake news in Karnataka. And Karandlaje has been behind many others herself.

A video doing the rounds on social media shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding rally with massive turnout and an enthusiastic crowd, including a significant number of Muslims, welcoming and cheering him.

It has been circulated widely by Hindutva right-wingers on social media platforms, including Whatsapp that provides penetration down to individuals with mobile phones who do not have computers.

The comment with the video says “Modiji through the streets of UDUpi – look at the support, especially from Muslims (clap clap). Would any leader dare go out like this and mingle with the public without security? U do fear for his security though.”

Fake news buster AltNews pointed out that the video was not from Udupi, Karnataka, but from PM Modi’s roadshow in Varanasi held much earlier. Here are two stills from the video, taken from AltNews:

“The battle of Karnataka is heating up with political parties in the fray utilising social media to the hilt in an attempt to build favourable opinion. PM Modi’s enthusiasts have gone overboard on this occasion,” said AltNews.

“Such instances of videos taken out of context and presented with a false claim is a tried and tested tactic on social media… in this instance where a one-year old video of PM Modi’s rally in Varanasi is presented as political support in Udupi in 2018,” it said.

Social media is a crucial battle ground for political parties as they look to sway potential voters in their favour, notes AltNews.

The BJP has a well staffed, full-fledged IT cell for propaganda. According to a report in India Today in 2017, the BJP has been the best at utilising social media campaigns for elections in the country. For Delhi municipal elections, it had set up a mammoth IT cell in Delhi with a grand team comprising 80,000 members, who are operating from 272 wards and three IT chambers under the guidance of 280 social media wizards, said the India Today report.

While the fake video of PM Narendra Modi‘s rally intended to show his popularity, there have been many instances of manufacturing fake news to whip up communal sentiments and disturb peace. Observing that the run up to Karnataka election “has witnessed a whirlwind of misinformation/disinformation over the past few months”, AltNews said “disturbingly, much of the narrative has focused on communal division.”

“A sinister attempt is … underway by Hindutva forces to disturb the peace in the region. Incidents are given a communal colour and inflammatory statements are made with the intention of inciting prejudice and hate,” said AltNews, citing instances in some of which persons no less than Members of Parliament like Shobha Karandlaje have been behind such attempts.

There is another fake news video which was posted even by PMOIndia: Report Card. AltNews carried it under the headline “Viral: Fake news about INC K’taka candidate threatening ‘unending bloodshed of Hindus’ if voted to power”.

The video came with the message “Bangalore Congress candidate (chamarajpet) Zameer Ahmed promises unending bloodshed of Hindus if Congress is voted to power and when he becomes minister”.

The video is about Congress candidate for the Karnataka assembly election Zameer Ahmed Khan addressing citizens in Urdu on his campaign trail. The video along with this message was first posted on Twitter by a user Kamal Lochan Mahanta. Mahanta according to his Twitter profile is a self-proclaimed Hindu nationalist residing in Chicago who is ‘blessed to be followed by PM @narendramodi’.

Although Mahanta later deleted the video, Alt News managed to retrieve a copy. In the video, Zameer Ahmed Khan is saying, “लिखवा लेना, मेरे को मिनिस्टर बनाया तो 5 साल के अन्दर ऐसे ऐसे कारनामे करके दिखाऊंगा गिनीज रिकॉर्ड में नाम आएगा” (Get it in writing, if I am made a minister, in five years I will do such work that my name will appear in the Guinness record). The false claim was that the Congress candidate is promising bloodshed of Hindus if Congress comes to power and he becomes a minister.

This video with the accompanying false claim was widely shared by right-wing users on Twitter, facebook and Whatsapp. PMO India: Report Card which has a massive following of over 1.5 million users too had posted this video, which was later deleted, reported AltNews. The Twitter handle of PMO India: Report Card is followed by senior office bearers and BJP members like Piyush Goyal, Maheish Girri, Sambit Patra, Radha Mohan Singh, Giriraj Singh, Amit Malviya among others.

“We’re posting two videos, especially for people of Karnataka. All of you must see and must share it.

Video 1: Zameer Ahmed promises unending bloodshed of Hindus in Karnataka if Congress is voted to power… https://t.co/LQ0gBi3MDX

— PMOIndia-ReportCard (@PMOIndia_RC) May 2, 2018

Social media users pointed out that the information is fake and tagged the police commissioner of Bengaluru and Bengaluru City police seeking action.

Then there was the fake tweet about Twitter being paid to trend #GoBackModi, saying “@Twitter has accepted in a statement given to @news7tamil that they were paid 2.2 crore rupees by DMK to trend #GoBackModi”.

A screenshot of News7 Tamil with this text did the rounds on social media, said AltNews. The screenshot was originally tweeted by an unknown handle @narayananansree ‏that has a total of 20 followers.

AltNews said: “In case you are thinking who would believe such a screenshot tweeted by an unknown account, you are in for a surprise. From S. Gurumurthy to Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, many have tweeted it.”

Gurumurthy has repeatedly fallen for hoaxes in the past as well. Recently, he had shared a tweet from a notorious parody handle of Republic TV. The parody handle had tweeted, “#Breaking : Jawahar Lal Nehru was great lover and taught us how to make love and have extra martial affairs : Sagarika Ghose #ThanksToNehru”. The same was shared by Gurumurthy with the comment, “What a certificate for Mahatma Gandhi’s chosen disciple.”

Nelson Vijay, Joint Editor of News7 Tamil clarified in response to Gurumurthy’s tweet that the screenshot was fake. Gurumurthy then not only deleted his tweet but also tweeted that the news was fake.

“The screenshot was also tweeted by Rajeev Chandrasekhar. Like Gurumurthy, he also found it entirely believable that Twitter has confirmed it received payment to trend the hashtag. But unlike Gurumurthy, he has not bothered to delete his tweet after learning that it is fake news,” said AltNews.

In December 2017, provocative messages erupted on social media following the death of a 21-year-old, Paresh Mehta in Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka. Mesta’s decomposed body was found in a lake in Honnavar town, days after he had gone missing following communal clashes in the region. A picture of his body was used to claim torture and mutilation, and the mob which had gathered to protest his alleged murder turned violent, destroying vehicles and resorting to stone pelting. The vehicle of IGP Western Range Hemant Nimbalkar was set on fire in Kumta.

Karnataka BJP issued a press release on its website wherein it quoted BJP MP from Karnataka Shobha Karandlaje who reportedly said, “Hot oil has been poured on his body resulting in his body turning completely black. This is a heinous murder carried out by jehadi elements.”

The press release added that Karandlaje had said that Mesta’s hands on which he had inscribed ‘Jayarama’ had been chopped off.

The allegation of brutality spread like wild fire, egged on by prominent BJP leaders who parroted that Mesta had been tortured and killed by ‘jehadi’ elements active in the coastal Karnataka region, reported AltNews, which also showed a tweet from Shobha Karandlaje saying: “Hindu boy 21 yr old Paresh Mesta goes missing.when he was found, he was mutilated,castrated.burnt by boiling oil poured over his head & his head split dastardly with a weapon.”

Fake news websites and communal rabble rousers like Postcard.news put up inflammatory posts. The ‘report’ was carried prominently by the India Today channel which reiterated the allegation that Mesta had been subjected to torture and his body flung in a lake. The channel described the graphic details of the ‘assault’, claiming he was castrated and his head was split open.

This overdrive by top BJP functionaries, fake news websites and sections of mainstream media had the cumulative effect of spurring fresh violence in the volatile region, noted AltNews.

The forensic report showed all the claims of brutalisation to be fake. By the time the falsehood was brought to light, the damage had been done.

The AltNews report had noted: “There is a powerful vested interest which seeks to keep the communal pot boiling in the region, with assembly elections coming up in the state in 2018.”

Similarly, Shobha Karandlaje on December 14 tweeted that ‘jehadis’ tried to rape and murder a minor girl in Honnavar and accused the Karnataka govt of silence and inaction.

Investigation into the incident by police and forensic reports subsequently revealed that the girl had inflicted injuries on herself in order to escape her stalker, whose name is Ganesh Ishwar Naik.

Despite the registration of the FIR and subsequent clarification by the police, Karandlaje was undeterred, repeating her lie that the girl had been attacked by ‘jehadis’.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Tajinder Bagga joined the bandwagon, tweeting in support of Karandlaje and parroting her claim that ‘Jihadis tried to rape and murder a girl’.

There is likely to more fake news on way. Karnataka goes to polls on May 12. Results will be out on May 15.