A 19-second video clip of actor Nana Patekar interviewing Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is being widely shared on social media. In the video, Patekar asks, “Whoever is getting the tender, whoever the contractor is, take it in writing from them for five years.” Responding to this, Eknath Shinde says, “That stipulation has already been added, that too is…” However, Devendra Fadnavis interjects at this point and says, “What the CM said, and you asked a very good question.” The viral video also features Marathi text on the screen. The text on the top reads, “Fadnavis does not allow me to speak in the Assembly, Mahajan does not allow me to speak in front of reporters”. At the same time, the translation of the bottom text is, “Do you bring the chief minister along just for show?”
Maharashtra Congress shared the clip and wrote, “Is Shinde a chief minister or a showpiece?” (Archived link)
शिंदे मुख्यमंत्री आहेत की शो-पीस? pic.twitter.com/OQem0xaqMo
— Maharashtra Congress (@INCMaharashtra) October 13, 2022
The Indian National Congress Maharashtra handle also posted the video with this message. The post had amassed over 3 lakh views at the time of writing. (Archived link)
Several users also amplified the video on Twitter and Facebook.
Fact-check
Alt News was able to debunk this 19-second video using a simple keyword search. News18 Lokmat uploaded the full length interview from which the viral video was clipped on October 11, 2022. After examining the interview in its entirety, Alt News can confirm that the claim made by the Congress accompanying the video is completely misleading. Readers who watch the video themselves will find that Eknath Shinde has answered Nana Patekar’s questions multiple times.
However, we will focus on the portion of the interview featured in the clip in circulation. The moment in the viral video can be seen from the 39:55-mark in the longer video. Furthermore, at the 40:06 mark, Devendra Fadnavis answers himself, interrupting Eknath Shinde. However, in order to understand the full context of the entire conversation, we request readers to watch the interview from the 37:42 mark onward. In this time frame, Shinde is questioned about the abundance of potholes in Mumbai despite it being the financial capital of the country.
At the 38:15 mark in the video given below, Eknath Shinde replies, “This is a very relevant question because people in Mumbai have been suffering due to these potholes for the last several years. They also claim that there are a lot of potholes, figures like 1,000 out of 3,000 potholes in the city have been repaired. The media also covers everything. But I will tell you about what happened when our government came to power. I called commissioner Chahal and asked him how many kilometers of road there was. He said 1900 kilometers. I asked him why there were so many potholes, and if it was a financial issue. He said they had the money. I asked why they didn’t repair the roads with concrete. He said they repaired 50 km of road every year. Every year potholes form on asphalt roads. I asked, do you work for the contractors? He said no. I asked him how much money it would take to build 500 km of road in concrete. He said Rs. 5,500 crore and asked if he could borrow the amount. He informed me that they arranged concrete for 450 km of road, and even the tender process had commenced. I asked when they would complete the rest of the road. I told them to release the remaining tenders by March, and asked if they had the funds to do so. He told me they did and assured me there would not be a single pothole in all of Mumbai in the next two years, as all the roads would be repaired with concrete…”
This response is followed by the portion of the interview in which Nana Patekar asks the question and Devendra Fadnavis answers while interrupting Shinde. After watching the entire interview, it becomes clear that Eknath Shinde did, in fact, respond to the question and took around two minutes to do so. It was later on that Devendra Fadnavis himself took over.
In other words, the Maharashtra Congress falsely circulated a clipped video from an interview featuring Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde claiming that Fadnavis did not allow Eknath Shinde a chance to respond. However, after watching the entire interview, it becomes evident that Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde spoke for two minutes in response to a question on the poor condition of roads in Mumbai.
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