Indian politician targeted with 'beef eating' claim ahead of Maharashtra election

Screenshot of the false post taken on November 5, 2024

The false claim surfaced ahead of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election on November 20, where Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) has teamed up with an opposition bloc that hopes to unseat the state's ruling coalition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (archived link).

The video was shared with similar claims on X and Facebook.

However, the video shows Thackeray referring to remarks by Kiren Rijiju -- a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet who is Buddhist and said he eats beef.

Clipped video

A reverse image search on Google found a longer version of the video posted on the Shiv Sena (UBT)'s official YouTube channel on October 12, 2024 (archived link).

The video is titled: "Dussehra Gathering #2024 | Shivtirth, Dadar, Mumbai" (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video shared in false social media posts (left) and the original video on YouTube (right):

Exactly two hours into the video, Thackeray can be heard recalling remarks by Rijiju -- the minister for minority affairs -- who said in 2015 he was a Buddhist and ate beef (archived link).

Thackeray also referred to the case of Aryan Mishra, a 19-year-old man killed in September by an armed mob that accused him of smuggling beef.

Authorities in India are often accused of failing to rein in Hindu hardliners, who form gangs of "cow vigilantes" to attack people accused of involvement in cattle slaughter (archived link).

"While Aryan Mishra was murdered on suspicion of cow smuggling, Rijiju says that I eat beef, I eat beef -- if anyone can do anything to me, then do it. But no one said anything about it," Thackeray said.

"On one hand, you kill innocent people, on the other hand, you give a place in the cabinet to someone who says that he eats beef."

Thackeray does not say he ate beef anywhere in the video.

AFP has previously debunked a fabricated image that purports to show the opposition party leader bowing to the Indian National Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi.