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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Elections & voting fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about elections & voting. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

5,414 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYElections & voting

‘BJP won Gujarat & Himachal elections by hacking EVM’s’- Former CEC Krishnamurthy

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a newspaper clipping and social-media posts attributing to former Chief Election Commissioner T.S. Krishnamurthy the statement that the BJP won the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections by hacking EVMs. FACTLY reports that the Election Commission of India (ECI) addressed that specific allegation in a circular dated 11 March 2021. According to the review, the ECI said Krishnamurthy had denied the attribution when the story first circulated and had again rejected it after it was recirculated. The review traces the attributed story to a Hindi newspaper article dated 21 December 2017. It says Krishnamurthy himself debunked the report when it came to his attention in 2018. The ECI’s later circular, as described by FACTLY, said he again stated the news was false and affirmed his confidence in EVMs’ credibility and reliability. This evidence addresses whether he made the quoted accusation; it is not merely a general discussion of EVM security. FACTLY also points to a 2019 report in which Krishnamurthy can be heard condemning the EVM-hacking theory in response to an individual claiming to have hacked an EVM. The review further reports that an FIR had been lodged and an investigation initiated concerning the spread of the false news. Taken together, the review’s account of the attributed report’s history, Krishnamurthy’s repeated denials, and the ECI’s intervention supports its conclusion that the quoted allegation was falsely attributed to him.