Voting dates for Karnataka assembly election announced
New Delhi (PTI): Assembly elections in Karnataka will be held in a single phase on May 10 and the votes counted on May 13, the Election Commission announced on Wednesday, setting the stage for a key BJP versus Congress electoral fight ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha showdown.
The Janata Dal (Secular) is the third major party in the state, which has a 224-member assembly. The BJP currently has 119 seats, followed by the Congress with 75. The JD (S) has 28 MLAs, while two seats are vacant.
Addressing a press conference here, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the notification for the elections will be issued on April 13 and the last date for filing nomination papers will be April 20.
Kumar said the nomination papers will be scrutinised on April 21 and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is April 24.
He said the elections have been scheduled on a Wednesday, and not on a Monday or Friday, to encourage greater participation of voters.
"People can take a day off and have a long weekend. But by holding the poll on Wednesday, the possibility has been reduced," he said, adding that the move is part of the EC's effort to ensure greater participation and curb voters' apathy in going to the polling stations.
The ruling BJP and the Congress have already launched spirited campaigns for the elections.
The Model Code of Conduct kicked in on Wednesday with the announcement of the election. But strict vigil was ensured even earlier on the Commission's directions during review meetings with enforcement agencies, he said, adding that more than Rs 80 crore has been seized so far.
Seeking to ensure inclusion and participation in the assembly polls, 100 per cent enrolment of eligible 'Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups' (PVTGs) in Karnataka is being ensured, the CEC said.
Forty 'Ethnic polling stations' will be set up for PVTGs. Special emphasis is being laid on the participation of the third gender in the election process, he said.
He said some people do not wish to enrol as third gender. But the EC is willing go the extra mile to register them in the gender they want keeping in mind their sensitivities.
Referring to 'urban apathy', Kumar said in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, nine of the top 20 low voter turnout constituencies were urban. This trend was also noticed in recently held Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections held in 2022, the CEC noted.
Focussed interventions are being made to create awareness in schools and colleges and voter awareness forums in organisations and RWAs, he said.
For the assembly elections, 58,282 polling stations will be set up in the state. The average voter per polling station is pegged at 883. Fifty per cent of the polling stations have webcasting facility.
A total of 1,320 polling stations will be managed by women officials.
Among the over 5,24 crore voters, over 5.60 lakh have been identified as persons with disability, the poll panel said.
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Fact Check: AI-generated photos of Cristiano Ronaldo shared on social media with fake claim
New Delhi (PTI Fact Check): Multiple social media users shared several photos, claiming that they showed star football player Cristiano Ronaldo with his alleged wife Georgina Rodriguez. The users also claimed Ronaldo had converted to Islam and the photos were from their visit to Haram Sharif in Mecca, where they offered namaz. In its investigation, however, the PTI Fact Check Desk found that the photos shared on social media were fake. AI-generated photos were shared as real with a false claim.
Claim
An X (formerly Twitter) user shared on December 21 multiple photos of legendary football player Cristiano Ronaldo along with his alleged wife, Georgina Rodriguez. In the post, which has garnered over 247.5k views so far, the user claimed that the former had accepted Islam and offered namaz with Rodriguez at Haram Sharif in Mecca.
Here's the link, archive link, and screenshot of the post.
Investigation
The Desk ran the viral photos through Google Lens and found that they were shared by several other social media users as well.
Here's the link, archive link, and screenshot of one such Facebook post.
The Desk then ran a customized keyword search on Google, but could not find any authentic report on the viral images or on the claim that Ronaldo had accepted Islam.
In the next part of the investigation, the Desk closely watched the viral images and noticed several discrepancies, which suggested that they may be fake or AI-generated. For instance, the fingers of Ronaldo look disfigured or abnormal, along with blurred faces in the background. Below is a photo highlighting the same.
Taking a cue from this, the Desk ran the combination of photos through True Media, an AI detection tool, which suggested a substantial presence of AI-generated or deepfake content.
Below are the screenshots of the results:
Subsequently, the Desk concluded that the photos of Cristiano Ronaldo along with Georgina Rodriguez shared on social media were fake.
CLAIM
Star football player Cristiano Ronaldo, accepted Islam and offered prayers at Haram Sharif in Mecca along with Georgina Rodriguez.
FACT
AI-generated photos shared on social media falsely claimed that the two offered namaz at Haram Sharif in Mecca. Also, Ronaldo has not converted to Islam.
CONCLUSION
Multiple social media users shared a combination of photos, which showed star football player Cristiano Ronaldo with his alleged wife Georgina Rodriguez. The users claimed that Ronaldo had accepted Islam and the photos were their visit to Haram Sharif in Mecca, where they offered prayers. In its investigation, the Desk found that the photos were AI-generated and the claim of the player accepting Islam was fake.
(This story was originally published by PTI, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)
