00:00That was a deepfake video of Amitabh Bachchan's Kaun Banega Crorepati, where all four options
00:21were CMs from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
00:24The correct option shown in the video was poll-bound Bantra Pradesh's incumbent CM
00:29Shivraj Singh Johan.
00:30This wasn't the only instance of deepfakes during the election.
00:34There was an AI-generated video of Telangana Congress Chief Rewant Reddy making derogatory
00:40remarks about the Bharat Rashtra Samiti Party.
00:43And one of BRS Minister Malla Reddy speaking ill of the incumbent Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar
00:50Deepfakes first surfaced in 2017, where morphed videos of celebrities surfaced on pornographic
01:07sites.
01:08In 2023, advancements in artificial intelligence technologies allowed just about anyone to
01:15create morphed photos and videos.
01:17The IT ministry in India issued notices to social media platforms to take down such videos
01:22after a host of them surfaced of different Bollywood personalities.
01:29In 2023, several states were embroiled in a cash-for-votes scandal.
01:34In Telangana, the BJP and the BRS accused each other of distributing money to voters
01:39in the Karimnagar constituency.
01:41There were unprecedented seizures in the state by the EC, with Rs. 724 crore being
01:47confiscated in cash, liquor, drugs and gold just between 9th October and 27th November.
01:54During the 2018 assembly polls, this number was just about Rs. 145 crore.
01:59The Election Commission noted that drugs, cash, freebies, liquor and precious metals
02:04worth more than Rs. 1760 crore were seized from the five poll-bound states.
02:10This was seven times more than the 2018 elections.
02:14Not just Telangana.
02:15Even in Madhya Pradesh, two viral videos surfaced of BJP leaders offering money to the BJP
02:22leaders.
02:23The EC registered a case of misconduct on Rajput, who was the state's transport minister.
02:44The Congress government in Rajasthan announced a water scheme worth Rs. 21,000 crores hours
02:52before the poll schedule was released.
02:54Earlier, they also promised free smartphones and subsidies on LPG and electricity to women.
03:00The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh announced three new medical colleges and launched a
03:04scheme that promised Rs. 1,000-3,000 per month to married, widowed and divorced women.
03:10The Aam Aadmi Party, also trying to make its mark in the central state, also promised free
03:15education, medical care and electricity.
03:18Even the Modi government extended its free food grains programme for five more years.
03:23While the Supreme Court said that the promise of freebies was a corrupt practice, in Madhya
03:27Pradesh alone, the freebies promised would cost the next government about Rs. 25,000
03:33crore each year.
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