Home  ›  Video Analyses  ›  ECI September 26 press note
Fact Check · X / Social Media

Did ECI delete its September 26 press note? Checking a viral claim

A screen-recording post by Cockroach Janta Party co-convener Ashutosh Ranka suggested the Election Commission of India had removed its September 26, 2026 press note. PIB Fact Check said the note remained publicly available, and independent reporting said it could still be found.

Truth Sab Tak Editorial Desk  ·  Published October 5, 2026  ·  Sources reviewed October 5, 2026
Truth Sab Tak verdict

FALSE / NOT SUPPORTED

The claim that ECI had taken down the September 26 press note is contradicted by PIB Fact Check and by the note’s continued public availability. The record does not establish that a screen recording proves a deletion.

What was claimed

On October 5, 2026, Ashutosh Ranka, identified in reports as co-convener of the Cockroach Janta Party, posted on X that the ECI had apparently taken down its September 26 press release. News reports described a screen recording in the post showing him navigating the ECI website. Ranka also questioned whether the Chief Election Commissioner had misled the public.

We could not independently inspect the original X post or authenticate every frame of the recording from the material available for this review. This fact-check assesses the central, checkable claim about whether the press note had been removed.

What the sources show

  • PIB Fact Check publicly stated on October 5 that the September 26 press release was available in the public domain and had not been taken down by the ECI. IANS reported the PIB fact-check and quoted an ECI source saying the note was available and had never been taken down.
  • The September 26 note is still available in the PIB’s official release archive. It records decisions from an ECI meeting, including a procedure for certain SIR notices and Form 6 declarations.
  • The Telegraph reported that its journalists were able to find the September 26 press release on the ECI website.

What this does—and does not—establish

The evidence supports rejecting the specific claim that the press note was removed: the PIB Fact Check said it was not taken down, the official release record remains accessible, and independent reporting also located it. A screen recording in which a page is not visible at one moment would not, by itself, establish that the document had been deleted.

This finding is limited to the availability of the press note. It does not resolve the separate legal and political dispute about Form 6 or what the Supreme Court approved. The contents of the press note and the accuracy of its interpretation are separate questions.

Final verdict

False / not supported by available evidence. PIB Fact Check said the ECI’s September 26, 2026 press note had not been taken down. The release remains available through the official PIB archive, and The Telegraph independently reported finding it on the ECI website.

Sources

  1. Official September 26 ECI press note, hosted in the PIB archive — published September 26, 2026.
  2. IANS: ECI’s Sep 26 SIR press note never taken down from website: PIB Fact Check — October 5, 2026.
  3. The Telegraph: report on Ranka’s video and its journalists’ check of the ECI site — October 5, 2026.
  4. NDTV India: report on Ranka’s claim and PIB’s response — October 5, 2026 (Hindi).
  5. PIB Fact Check portal.

Editorial note: This review reflects the cited material available on October 5, 2026. It checks the claim about removal of the press note; it does not authenticate the complete screen recording or determine the separate Form 6 dispute. We will update this page if material new evidence emerges.