In Sivaganga, a keenness to spread fake news

Published : Mar 28, 2019 17:37 IST

The spread of misinformation is increasing exponentially with each passing day in this Lok Sabha election. While much of this is the handiwork of the IT cells of the major political parties, in at least two instances in Sivaganga, a remote district in south Tamil Nadu, the blame lay elsewhere too.

The first related to the District Collector and Returning Officer for the Sivaganga Lok Sabha constituency, J. Jayakanthan, receiving the nomination papers of a candidate standing up. The candidate, H. Raja, is national secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and social media was abuzz with claims that Raja’s close links to BJP bosses was why the Collector stood up. The message, which was forwarded across platforms, also contended that for others the Collector remained seated.

On enquiry at the Collector’s office on March 28, an official told Frontline that the Collector received the nomination papers of all candidates standing up. “The candidates themselves can attest to this. He stood up for everyone,” the official said. In fact, the Collector was asked about this by mediapersons soon after the close of nominations. He responded that if there was a rule stating that he should not rise when someone hands over his or her nomination papers, he would have complied. Nevertheless, the “news” continued to be forwarded on some WhatsApp groups.

The second related to an incident involving Congress candidate Karti P. Chidambaram. When he went to file the nomination, there was an independent candidate in the Returning Officer’s chamber. The social media “story” put out was that Karti had muscled his way in with 10 persons and asked the independent candidate to get out.

The reality was different, insisted an official at the collectorate who said he was in the chamber when Karti came into file his nomination. “The nalla neram [auspicious time] was only till 1:30 p.m. Karti had arrived at 1:25 p.m. When his people requested both the Returning Officer and the independent candidate if they could just handover the nomination, both agreed. It was handed over, and then Karti waited for his turn,” the official added.

What exasperated the matter was a sound bite given to a television reporter outside by the independent candidate. Asked if the process of his nomination was interrupted, the candidate replied in the affirmative and explained what happened. But when the television channel put out the story, it was that Karti played truant.

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