New Delhi: The Election Commission on Friday told its officials handling social media in the states to hit back at misinformation with facts.
At a workshop here, officials dealing with media and social media at offices of state chief electoral officers (CEOs) were told that in light of the growing threat of misinformation, it is imperative to clearly communicate that elections in India are conducted strictly in accordance with the Constitution.
They were told to keep countering misleading information with facts.
Sessions were held to strengthen the communication ecosystem of CEO offices to disseminate timely factual information to the media and other stakeholders.
The workshop had dedicated sessions on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls from the perspective of media and social media.
An expert session on the various tools, techniques and strategies to counter misinformation was also organised.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been alleging that votes were “stolen” in Maharashtra Assembly elections and then with evidence, his party showed how “vote chori” was done in the Mahadevapura assembly segment in Karnataka’s Bangalore central Lok Sabha seat.
The Congress leader undertook the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ from Sasaram in poll-bound Bihar on August 17. The yatra, which concluded in Patna on September 1, was aimed at highlighting the alleged assault on people’s right to vote through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi for his ‘vote theft’ charges against the Election Commission, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on August 17 served a seven-day ultimatum on the Congress leader to submit a signed affidavit to back his claims, else his allegations will be considered baseless and invalid.
In his first press conference after Gandhi levelled allegations of ‘vote chori’ in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and several opposition leaders flagged issues about revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, a combative Kumar asked Gandhi to either apologise or back his claims with a signed affidavit as required under electoral rules.