The clip of the Hindu procession was filmed in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, not Maharashtra before the vote.

As the western Indian state of Maharashtra prepares for its legislative elections on November 20, video of people who sing a A Hindu motto was repeatedly shared in a post with a false claim showing a campaign event in the state. The positions came as the ruling opposition party challenged the coalition led by the Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This video, however, was filmed in northern Uttar Pradesh and previously surfaced online in February 2022.

“Maharashtra’s mood. Maharashtra’s election campaign has started in a very good way,” read a Facebook post written in a mix of English and Hindi shared on November 7, 2024.

It also included a video showing people in a high-rise building standing on a balcony chanting “Jai Shri Ram” — a popular religious song among India’s Hindu majority (archived link).

A screenshot of the fake post was taken on November 7, 2024

The two-minute and 29-second video was shared with the false claim elsewhere on Facebook here and on social media site X.

The positions came ahead of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections on November 20, where the opposition party including the Indian National Congress — accused by critics of favoring the Muslim minority — is hoping to unseat the ruling coalition led by BJP (archived link).

However, the video on the fake posts was not recorded in the state.

Incorrectly distorted images

A reverse keyframe image search on Google found that the video was published on Facebook on February 15, 2022. Its caption states that the video was filmed in the city of Kanpur in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (archived link).

A video showing the same incident was shared on Facebook on February 12, 2022 (archived link).

The document said the clip showed the Hindu opposition group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) performing a “prabhat pheri” — a ritual morning procession while reciting religious scriptures — in several apartment blocks in Kanpur.

This document also said that it was recorded in an apartment called Divinity Homes.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video as seen in the fake post (left) and the 2022 post (right):

AFP was able to confirm the location of the video by comparing it to a Google Street View image of the Diviniti Homes apartment complex (archived link).

Below is a comparison of the video screenshot (left) and the corresponding location on Google Maps (right) with the same features highlighted:

The claim was earlier disputed by Indian fact-checking website Newschecker.

AFP released false information on the Maharashtra vote.