DigitEye India Fact Checkers
Amid Assembly elections to Maharashtra, a video is being shared on X claiming that it showed opposition leader Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena (UBT) party saying that he eats beef. As his party Shiv Sena vows against cow slaughter, the claim has gone viral.
हिंदू मतदारांनो मी गोमांस खातो ,बीफ खातो ….काय माझं वाकडं करायचं ते करा !!!
-उध्दव ठाकरे.
पहा हिंदूनो तुमची काय किंमत आहे ह्यांच्या लेखी😡😡😡.
ह्यांना कायमचं घरी बसवा. pic.twitter.com/5PeQSIYjq6— रूबाबदार मनसे 🔥 (@rubabdarmanase) October 24, 2024
The post in Marathi, when translated into English, reads:
“Hindu voters, I eat beef, I eat beef … Do what you want to do with me – Uddhav Thackeray.” Hindu voters, I eat beef, I eat beef….do what you want me to do!!! – Uddhav Thackeray…. Look at what you Hindus are worth. Put them at home forever.”
It can be accessed here and here.
FACT-CHECK
When Digiteye India recevied a request, we fact-checked the claim on social media and found that the claim was misleading. We searched for the original video taking a few key frames of the video and conducted a Google Reverse Image Search. The results showed that the original video was from an entirely different context when he was referring to remarks by Union Minister for Minorities Kiren Rijiju, who is a Buddhist and said he eats beef.
Here’s the original video uploaded on the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s official YouTube channel on October 12, 2024 titled:”Dussehra Gathering #2024 | Shivtirth, Dadar, Mumbai”
In this video, at 1:15:00 timestamp, Thackeray was actually talking about Rijiju’s 2015 statement on beef consumption: “I eat beef, I’m from Arunachal Pradesh… can somebody stop me?” The context was Rijiju’s statement while on the death of 19-year-old Aryan Mishra, reportedly shot dead by alleged cow vigilantes in Faridabad, Haryana, believing that he was transporting beef on August 23, 2024. Later, Rijiju said that the media had ‘misquoted’ his statement.
Taking out this reference, 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.” Hence, Thackeray did not say that he ate beef in the video as claimed.
Claim: Uddhav Thackeray said, “Hindu voters, I eat beef, I eat beef … Do what you want to do with me.”
Conclusion: Misrepresentation. Uddhav Thackeray never said he eats beef but recalling an alleged statement by Union Minister Kirin Rijiju, which the latter denied.
Rating: Misleading — 
