Fact Check: Kejriwal, Atishi posters blackened by voters after Delhi polls? No, video is from 2024
After the Delhi polls, people are allegedly declaring AAP’s defeat by blackening the faces of Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi Marlena.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 6 Feb 2025 5:01 PM IST
Claim: The video shows a woman smearing the faces of AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi Marlena on a billboard after the February 5 polls, indicating who Delhi voted against in the polls.
Fact: The claim is misleading. The video shows the residents of Delhi’s Shri Nivas Puri expressing their anger after their homes were flooded with sewer water in February 2024.
Hyderabad: Delhi voted for 70 Assembly seats on February 5 to elect its new State government. Most exit polls predicted a decisive victory for the BJP, three forecast AAP’s return to power and two suggested a tightly contested race.
In this context, a video circulating on social media shows a woman on a ladder blackening the faces of AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi Marlena on a billboard and striking them with a slipper. Another woman is then seen hitting the billboard with a stick. The accompanying claim suggests the video was filmed after the February 5 polls and shows people declaring AAP’s defeat.
An X user shared the video with the caption, “By blackening the faces of Kejriwal and Atishi, the people of Delhi have announced the election result.” (Translated) (Archive)
Another X user shared the video with the caption, "After casting her vote, Chachi also announced the result at the same time." (Translated)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading. The video is from 2024.
A reverse image search of keyframes from the video led us to a post by BJP leader Vijender Gupta on February 28, 2024. In the caption, Gupta stated that the video shows women from Delhi’s Shri Nivas Puri expressing their anger after their homes were flooded with sewer water.
The official X handle of BJP Delhi also posted the video on February 28, 2024, alleging that the AAP government ignored complaints from Shri Nivas Puri residents, whose homes had been flooded with sewer water for the past 15 days. The video showed women from the locality expressing their anger, the post said.
According to a report by ETV Bharat on February 28, the Shri Nivas Puri colony had been waterlogged with dirty water for the past 10 to 15 days and no efforts were made to drain it. In protest, local women blackened the faces of Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi on a billboard. The report also highlighted that the unsanitary conditions had caused significant hardship for residents, many of whom were falling ill.
Therefore, we conclude that the video was not filmed after the 2025 Delhi Assembly polls on or after February 5. The claim is misleading.
