The viral claim that BJP workers were caught stealing EVMs in connivance with Election Commission officials from the strong room in Delhi's Babarpur area is false.

A video is going viral on social media with a claim that Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) workers were caught stealing EVMs in connivance with Election Commission officials from the strong room in Delhi.

A Facebook page name Unofficial: Subramanian Swamy which is being run by the co-founder of Alt News shares a link of a Youtube video with a claim that "EVMs being stolen. Lol. BJP can't surprise us anymore."

The viral post received 509 likes and 243 shares at the time of writing this article.

The video was shared on 8 February by a Youtube channel name "NS News" with a caption, "After Delhi election, the BJP workers are caught stealing EVMs. See how EVM machines are being replaced after the elections; EVMs are being changed from different places."(translated from Hindi)

In 2 min 18-second long video, some people can be seen claiming that EVMs are missing. The person making the video can be heard saying, 'In Delhi Kabirnagar street number 4, SVN Public School, (Kabirnagar falls in Babarpur assembly constituency in Shahdara district of North East Delhi) employees caught stealing EVMs here, along with BJP people. In this video, a person can also be heard saying about the removal of two EVMs.

You can watch the video here:

The video was first shared by a Facebook user Sarfaraz Siddiqui.

Fact Check

In the investigation, we found that the viral claim is false that Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) workers were caught stealing EVMs in connivance with Election Commission officials from the strong room in Delhi's Babarpur.

We found a news report of Times of India with the headline 'Delhi polls 2020: Replacement poll equipment led to confusion, says EC.' According to the article, Chief electoral officer of Delhi, Ranbir Singh had said that the mystery around the two EVM- VVPAT sets , which were reportedly found in possession of a polling officer in Northeast is Delhi's Babarpur had been solved.

Ranbir Singh further said that the two sets were reserved equipment, kept aside as replacement for the ones used in the voting process.

"These two machines kept at two different polling booths were being carried by a sector officer in a Van when he was stopped and questioned. The machines were not used for polling. We kept them under seal for a day and all candidates were called and the serial numbers of machines were tallied in front of them. The candidates were satisfied with the explanation".

The statement of the CEO was also published by Delhi Jagran.

However, according to Election Commission Guidelines, after the poll, all available EVMs and WPATs are divided into four categories, as under:

Category A: Polled EVMs & WPATs: Those EVMs in which votes polled at polling stations are recorded and which are closed at the end of poll after following due procedure. WPATs were used during the actual poll and contains printed paper slips (Ballot slips) in its Drop Box (Ballot Compartment).

Category B: Defective Polled EVMs & WPATs are those which become defective after some votes are recorded in EVM or after printing of some paper slips (Ballot'slips) WPAT become defective i.e. goes in error.

Category C: Defective Unpolled EVMs & WPATs are those which become defective before the commencement of poll and are replaced.

Category D: Unused EVMs & WPATs are those which are with Sector/ZonallArea Magistrate, as a reserve and are not used in actual poll.

The EVMs that people caught on suspicion of theft in the Babarpur area of Delhi came under the storage of "Unused EVMs and VVPAT Guidelines" (Category D). The EVMs and VVPATs machines falling in this category are held by sector or zonal or area magistrates, which are safe and not used in voting.

In conclusion, the viral claim that BJP workers were caught stealing EVMs in connivance with Election Commission officials from the strong room in Delhi's Babarpur area is false.

Ironically, instead of verifying the video, the co-founder of Altnews decided to add fire in the propaganda against BJP.