Videos predating Indian state polls surface alongside vote rigging allegations after BJP win

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance swept to victory in bellwether elections in the country’s poorest Bihar state in November, but opposition parties have alleged the vote was rigged and said they would organise a rally. However, three videos circulating online alongside claims they show protests following the Bihar polls are old and filmed in other Indian states.

“Protest after Bihar election,” reads the caption of a video shared on Instagram on November 14, 2025, where it has racked up two million views.

The video shows a forked road filled with chanting crowds who appear to be following a vehicle.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed a “resounding” victory in the Bihar polls as the election commission said on November 14 initial counts and projections suggested a solid majority for the BJP and its allies (archived link).

The ruling coalition swept 202 out of 243 seats in the country’s poorest state, an outcome that analysts say is expected to boost Modi and his party ahead of other key regional polls in 2026 (archived link).

However, the opposition Congress party has alleged vote rigging and announced plans to organise a rally against the supposed fraud in December (archived link).

Other posts on Instagram sharing videos of large crowds and claiming the Bihar elections were unfair surfaced after Modi proclaimed the BJP’s win.

Another Instagram post questioning how the BJP and its alliance partner Janata Dal (United) won in Bihar and sharing a different video of a protest was viewed 4.9 million times.

However, the videos all predate the Bihar elections and were shot in different states.

Unrelated clips

A reverse image search of the first video on Google led to a report by lifestyle media outlet Indiatimes uploaded on YouTube on September 22, 2025 (archived link).

The video is titled, “Thousands in Guwahati Bid Emotional Farewell to Singer Zubeen Garg.” The crowd can be heard chanting the singer’s name.

Guwahati is the largest city of the northeast Indian state of Assam, where Garg is hailed as a cultural icon. Garg’s death by drowning in Singapore had brought the state to a standstill as tens of thousands of fans thronged the streets to mourn the singer (archived link).

The scene in the video corresponds to Google Maps Street View imagery of an intersection in Guwahati (archived link).

AFP has previously debunked other false posts sharing the second clip, which in fact shows crowds watching a bullock cart race in the western Maharashtra state.

The video was first shared on Instagram on June 28, 2025 with a Marathi-language caption describing a prize-winning bull in the race (archived link).

Meanwhile, a reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the third video led to an Instagram post by the Chhattisgarh Youth Congress on August 14, 2025 (archived link).

The caption says it shows a protest against election fraud in Raipur, the capital of the central Chhattisgarh state, by supporters of opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi.

Gandhi had accused the Election Commission of colluding with the BJP to carry out voter fraud in elections in 2024, prompting rallies by his supporters in several states, including Chhattisgarh (archived link).

The scene corresponds to Google Street View imagery of a roadside area in Raipur (archived link).

AFP has previously debunked other misinformation around the Bihar elections.