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A screenshot of a video by one 'SM Headlines', showing exit polls conducted for the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections is being shared on social media.
The screenshot shows India TV journalist Rajat Sharma, and predicts a landslide win for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Gujarat, with the party bagging 142 out of 182 seats.
However, there are multiple factual inaccuracies.
The Election Commission of India is yet to announce the polling dates for Gujarat Assembly elections.
Exit polls are conducted after voters have cast their votes, which is not possible as polling has not taken place yet.
The fabricated thumbnail of 'SM Headlines'' video does not
complement the video content, which is a compilation of a mood of the voters.
We found that even in 2017, no media organisation or body had predicted such a landslide victory for AAP.
We found many social media users sharing a screenshot of an exit poll bulletin by 'SM Headlines,' showing journalist Rajat Sharma, predicting a landslide win for the Aam Aadmi Party in the 2022 Gujarat Assembly polls.
Firstly, the Election Commission of India is yet to announce the polling dates for the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections.
We then looked for the YouTube channel named 'SM Headlines', whose screenshot was shared in the claim. We found a channel with the same name and saw a video was published with the same title and thumbnail as seen in the claim.
But the content of the video was distinct from the thumbnail. It was a compilation of clips from different YouTube channels, including sections of a video from a channel called 'Public Reaction Bank' with some others.
We then looked for anchor Rajat Sharma's bulletins on India TV's YouTube channel and found a video from August, where Sharma was seen in the same outfit and the bulletin was on Ghulam Nabi Azad's resignation from the Congress party.
We even checked the exit poll results of 2017 Gujarat elections and found that the channel had not made any such prediction.
Team WebQoof has debunked several altered graphics and images of exit and opinion polls earlier this year, during the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Several YouTube channels have previously used unrelated or morphed thumbnails of polls for their videos, and the content had no relation to their thumbnails.
Clearly, no exit polls have been conducted for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections and the thumbnail is manipulated.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
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