DigitEye India Fact Checkers
A social media post quoting Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut is going viral on social media. The post says that Raut described former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray aa a ‘Muslim Hriday Samrat’ (King of Muslims’ Hearts).
The quote, made originally in Marathi, is being shared. It reads: “What is the point if people call Uddhav Thackeray ‘the emperor of Muslim hearts’? The son of a Hindu heart can also be ‘the emperor’ of another religion – Sanjay Raut”. The post carried the Marathi newspaper Lokmat’s logo and template.
आमची काहीच हरकत नाही.
हेच तर आम्ही सांगायचा प्रयत्न करतोय pic.twitter.com/vD7g378Mqe— SHIVANI GOKHALE 🚩 (@shivanigokhale) October 18, 2024
The caption says, “आमची काहीच हरकत नाही. हेच तर आम्ही सांगायचा प्रयत्न करतोय” in Marathi that reads in English as:”We have no problem. This is what we are trying to say.”
FACT CHECK
When Digiteye India team received a request to fact check, we searched the social media platforms for the original but found denial by Lokmat news outlet as seen below:
खासदार संजय राऊत यांनी माध्यमांशी संवाद साधला. त्यावेळी ते म्हणाले की, ‘एकाबाजूला मुडदे पडलेत, दुसऱ्या बाजूला पंतप्रधान रोड शो करतात हे किती असंवेदनशील आहे. राज ठाकरे, नारायण राणे यांना आम्ही रस्त्यावर उतरवलं. राज ठाकरे यांनी स्वत:च्या पक्षासाठी इतकी मेहनत केली असती तर कदाचित… pic.twitter.com/0N2mu4U4KM
— Lokmat (@lokmat) May 20, 2024
Lokmat clarified that this viral image is an altered one and Raut made no such statement about Thackeray. It said, “…no such creative has been done by ‘Lokmat’ but this is a hoax done by supporters of a particular ideology on social media using the name and logo of ‘Lokmat’.”
It further said:“MP Sanjay Raut interacted with the media. At that time, he said, ‘How insensitive it is that on one side there are issues, on the other side the Prime Minister does a road show. We brought Raj Thackeray, Narayan Rane to the streets. If Raj Thackeray had worked so hard for his party, maybe his workers would have had better days’. Such a trick.”
When we checked Sanjay Raut’s social media handles, we found no such remark being made or anybody citing it. Hence, the claim is false.
Claim: Sanjay Raut says Uddhav Thackeray is ‘King of Muslim Hearts’.
Conclusion: Misrepresentation. The image of quote in X post has been altered to claim that Sanjay Raut called Uddhav Thackeray a ‘King of Muslim hearts’.
Rating: Misrepresentation — 
