New Delhi: 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 Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance consists of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar). Assembly elections in Maharashtra are scheduled for 20 November, 2024, with results set to be announced on 23 November. The MVA in its manifesto has promised to double the financial assistance for women voters under the ‘Ladki Bahin Yojana’ from Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000. The scheme was introduced by the ruling Mahayuti alliance which consists of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, BJP, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP.
The viral graphic has the logo of Pudhari News and resembles news template that is similar to the outlet’s. 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 3,000/- to his beloved sisters and he will give Muslim women Rs 6,000/- 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 its WhatsApp tipline number (7700906588) inquiring about it.
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.
“This is fake, also the text font used in the graphic is not used by Pudhari News,” Bhoite told BOOM.
In the below video, posted by Pudhari News covering Raut’s press conference on 13 November, 2024, we can notice that the template and text font is different from the one used in the fake news graphic. This can be seen from the 3-minute timestamp.
Additionally, Raut has not made any statement stating that Muslim women would be given Rs 6,000 per month under a ‘Nutritional Diet Scheme’, as is being falsely claimed in the graphic. The MVA’s manifesto also does not mention any such promise to give higher financial assistance to Muslim women compared to the beneficiaries of the ‘Ladki Bahin Yojana’.
This story was originally published by Boom as part of the Shakti Collective. Apart from the headline, excerpt and introduction, this story has not been edited by ThePrint staff.
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