A viral news graphic showing a news bulletin that quotes Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut saying that his party would pay higher financial assistance to Muslim women if it came to power in Maharashtra, is morphed and fake.
BOOM found that the news graphic which has the logo of Marathi news outlet Pudhari News is fake and the channel has not carried any such statement attributing it to Raut. Pudhari News also confirmed to BOOM that the viral graphic is fake and the outlet does not use the font used in the graphic.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance consists of the Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar). Assembly elections in Maharashtra are scheduled for November 20, 2024, with results set to be announced on November 23. The MVA in its manifesto has promised to double the financial assistance for women voters under the 'Ladki Bahin Yojana' from 1500 to 3000 rupees. The scheme was introduced by the ruling Mahayuti alliance of the BJP, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP.
The viral graphic has the logo of Pudhari News and resembles a similar news template to the outlet. The news graphic carries a photo of Raut from a press conference with the caption when translated from Marathi reading, "If Uddhav Thackeray becomes the Chief Minister again, then he will give Rs 3000/- to his beloved sisters and he will give Muslim women Rs 6000/- per month under the Nutritional Diet Scheme as their fertility rate is high."
(In Marathi -उध्दव ठाकरे परत मुख्यमंत्री झाल्यावर लाडक्या बहिणीला ३०००/- रुपये देणार तसेच मुस्लीम भगिनीची प्रजनन क्षमता जास्त असल्यामुळे त्यांना पौष्टिक आहार योजने अंतर्गत महीना ६०००/- रुपये देणार.)
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BOOM also received the viral graphic on our WhatsApp tipline number (7700906588) inquiring about it.
FACT-CHECK: Fake news graphic with fabricated Sanjay Raut quote
BOOM found that the viral news graphic is fake, and Sanjay Raut has not made any such statement promising more financial assistance to Muslim women if Uddhav Thackeray becomes the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
The news bulletin text font on the viral graphic has a different contrast which stands out from the text on the bottom. This indicates that the text has been edited into the graphic.
BOOM reached out to Tulsidas Bhoite, Editor of Pudhari News, who confirmed that the viral graphic is fake and the Marathi outlet has not ran any such report quoting Raut.
"This is fake, also the text font used in the graphic is not used by Pudhari News", Bohite told BOOM.
In the below video posted by Pudhari News covering Raut's press conference on November 13, 2024, we can notice that the template and text font is different from the one used the fake news graphic. This can be seen from the 3 minutes timestamp.
Additionally, Raut has not made any statement stating that Muslim women would be given 6000 rupees per month under a "Nutritional Diet Scheme" as being falsely claimed in the graphic. The MVA's manfiesto also does not mention any such promise to give higher financial assistance to Muslim women compared to the beneficiaries of the 'Ladki Bahin Yojana'.
