A video claiming to show former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray admitting to eat beef and brazening it out, at a public rally, is cropped and misleading.
BOOM found that the original video shows Thackeray was referring to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kiren Rijiju's 2015 remark about eating beef which has been left out of the viral clip.
Assembly elections in Maharashtra are scheduled for November 20, 2024, with results set to be announced on November 23.
The viral video shows Thackeray addressing a public rally, while talking in Marathi saying, "I eat beef, do whatever you want to do", which is followed by another video in which a group of rickshaw drivers criticise Thackeray and falsely claim that he said his party Shiv Sena (UBT) won because of Muslim voters (in the Lok Sabha elections).
The cropped video is being shared on X.
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BOOM also received the viral video on our WhatsApp tipline number (7700906588) inquiring about it.
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video has been cropped to make the false claim that Uddhav Thackeray brazenly admitted to eating beef.
The viral clip is from Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Dussehra rally on October 12, 2024. We found that Thackeray was referring to BJP leader Kiren Rijiju's 2015 statement on eating beef.
We checked Thackeray's entire speech and found that he did not say he eats beef. The viral video has been taken from his Dusherra speech, in which he criticised the BJP and claimed that the party has double standards on the issue of eating beef. This has been left out of the clip to change the context of the statement and make the false claim.
Thackeray spoke about the case of a 19-year-old boy named Aryan Mishra in Faridabad, Haryana, who was reportedly shot dead on August 23, 2024, by a group of individuals suspected to be cow vigilantes who were chasing his car suspecting him of carrying beef.
At the 2.00.53 minutes timestamp, Thackeray can be heard saying, "If you killed Aryan Mishra on the allegation that he was smuggling beef, then what Kiren Rijiju said, 'that I (Rijiju) eat beef, do whatever you want to do', what do you do about that? I'm not saying shoot him but why this hypocrisy? You're killing young children and shooting them, and those who eat beef, they are saying do what you want and Modi ji you sit with them in your cabinet. This Hindutva is not acceptable to me."
The part where Thackeray refers to Rijjiu's 2015 statement, when he said, "I eat beef, can somebody stop me?", has been cropped out to falsely claim Thackeray said he eats beef.
The live stream of his speech in Marathi can be seen below: