Did a BBC Survey state BJP would win in Karnataka?
Fake opinion polls using BBC's name has been around at least since 2018 Karnataka Assembly Elections.
Claim
BJP to get absolute majority – 140+ seats as per BBC survey. There are about 4.92 crores beneficiaries of various flag ship schemes of Modijee in Karnataka. Even if BJP consolidate 3 crores of beneficiaries vote, BJP is done with 140+ seats. 150 is also possible.
Rating
Explanation
Karnataka Legislative elections are slated to be held on 10 May 2023. The election in the state is going to be a 3-way battle between the BJP, Congress, and the Janata Dal (Secular) Though the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is fielding candidates at almost all the constituencies, it is not expected to make significant inroads in the state. BJP, the current ruling party in the state, is eyeing to retain power and the opposition parties Congress and JD (S) are eyeing to come back to power. While there have been many opinion polls from several organizations, several social media users are claiming that the BBC had come out with a survey and it is in favour of the BJP, with a prediction that the party would win more than 140 seats. See here, here, here, here and here.
What’s the truth?
We did a keyword search and found no such survey or polls conducted by the BBC. The link provided in the tweets took us to a the BBC Hindi’s homepage. On further search, we were able to find various articles from 2018, during the 2018 Karnataka Assembly polls, when similar claims were made using the BBC’s name. It was widely covered in many news outlets such as The Times of India, The Quint, The Wire etc.
A fake survey on Karnataka polls has been circulating on Whats App and claims to be from BBC News. We'd like to make absolutely clear that it's a #fake and does not come from the BBC. The BBC does not commission pre-election surveys in India. #fakenews
— BBC News India (@BBCIndia) May 7, 2018
This fake survey on Karnataka polls has been circulating on Whats App and claims to be from BBC News. We'd like to make it absolutely clear that it is #fake and does not come from the BBC. The BBC does not commission pre-election surveys in India. #fakenews pic.twitter.com/67MQ8VWWFB
— BBC News Press Team (@BBCNewsPR) May 7, 2018
Moreover, BBC had tweeted that the polls attributed to them were fake. Using the BBC’s name, similar claims were made during 2018 Rajasthan Assembly elections and 2019 Parliament Elections which were found to be false.
Here’s a list of fake news that are related to BBC:
- Was ‘Resign Modi’ banner dropped from London’s Westminister bridge as a result of IT raids in BBC office?
- Did BBC remove Kashmir from India Map?
- Was no documentary by BBC on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots released as claimed by EAM Jaishankar?
- Was ‘Shame on you BBC’ slogan raised in London against BBC documentary on Modi?
- Did Rahul Gandhi meet BBC documentary producer a few months back?
Conclusion
Opinion polls on Karnataka Legislative Assembly shared in social media attributing to the BBC is fake. BBC has not published any such survey.
