The assembly election in Karnataka may well represent a watershed moment in Indian politics. Karnataka stands between the Congress party and oblivion as the last big state still within the grasp of the grand old party. For BJP, victory in Karnataka may pave the way for rich dividends in southern India. For the JD(S), a strong performance is essential to stay relevant as an active regional outfit. The competition to take over the reins of the state is thus immense and fierce, as the verdict in Karnataka could well be a precursor to the outcome of the 2019 general election. During this period, the quantum of fake news related to the state jumped manifold. Alt News has chronicled 13 instances of misinformation/disinformation that flooded social media in the run up to these polls. The fake news cycle for Karnataka essentially commenced with rumours that 21-year old Paresh Mesta was tortured and brutally killed when communal violence erupted in the Uttara Kanada district in January, 2018. India Today had reported that boiling oil had been poured on Mesta’s face, his head was split open and he was castrated. Postcard News had reported in a rather provocative manner that Paresh Mesta had been brutalised and questioned the ‘secular gang’ for not speaking up. It turned out that these were mere rumours which had been perpetrated by BJP MP from Karnataka Shobha Karandlaje, who had indulged in communal rumour mongering along with BJP spokesperson Tajinder Bagga over this and other incidents. Jihadis tried to rape and murder a girl studying in 9th std near honnavar.Why is the govt silent about this incident?Arrest those who molested and injured this girl. Where are you CM @siddaramaiah? — Shobha Karandlaje (@ShobhaBJP) December 14, 2017 The True Picture, which claims to be a fact checking website, published an article that showed Karnataka’s record with regard to crimes against Scheduled Castes in poor light compared to other states. The article paints a misleading picture of crime against SCs in Karnataka vis-a-vis other states, projecting it as being among the worst states on this count. Data for the analysis was chosen selectively, choosing some states and leaving out others. A holistic reading of the NCRB data which has been used for the article shows that with regard to rate of crime against Scheduled Castes, Karnataka ranks 11th among all the states in India. ‘Bangalore Congress candidate (chamarajpet) Zameer Ahmed promises unending bloodshed of Hindus if Congress is voted to power and when he becomes minister’. This provocative message accompanieed a video that was circulating widely on social media. In the video, Congress candidate for the Karnataka assembly election Zameer Ahmed Khan is seen addressing citizens in Urdu on his campaign trail. As can be seen and heard in the video posted above from 00:51 to 1:00, Zameer Ahmed Khan is saying, “लिखवा लेना, मेरे को मिनिस्टर बनाया तो 5 साल के अन्दर ऐसे ऐसे कारनामे करके दिखाऊंगा गिनीज रिकॉर्ड में नाम आएगा” (Get it in writing, if I am made a minister, in five years I will do such work that my name will appear in the Guinness record. (approximate translation). Instead, what was claimed is that the Congress candidate is promising bloodshed of Hindus if Congress comes to power and he becomes a minister. This was shared widely on social media by BJP supporters. When the cash crunch resulted in dry ATMs in April 2018, it was claimed on social media that this was because a BJP worker had been arrested with Rs.120 crore in cash near the Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border. The money was meant to be used in the upcoming assembly election. This message and picture was posted by a fan page of the Congress party and has been shared more than 47,000 times. तिप्पनाहल्ली (कर्नाटक) में 120 करोड़ रुपयों का काला धन ले जाते हुए एक भाजपा कार्यकर्ता पकड़ा गया…!! उसने बताया कि ये… Posted by I.T & Social media cell Congress on Sunday, April 22, 2018 Alt News had busted this claim in a report which revealed how two sets of unrelated images were put together for this post. Two of those photographs were old images from 2017, and there was nothing to suggest involvement of a political party as investigation is still on. A video was circulated on social media in which a huge stash of currency notes kept inside bags, boxes and wardrobe is shown. It was claimed that this money was recovered from a raid that took place at the house of Karnataka Congress minister D.K Shivakumar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7TXR5f89ow It turns out that this video is NOT of a raid on the house of Congress minister from Karnataka D.K Shivakumar. It is in fact of an Income Tax raid on T&T law firm in Delhi founded by Rohit Tandon.