A video of Shiv Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray is being shared with a claim that he visited Ajmer Sharif Dargah after recently getting elected from Worli constituency in Mumbai. “शिवसेना के युवराज आदित्य ठाकरे अपने परिवार में पहली बार जनता के द्वारा चुनकर विधायक बनने के बाद ख्वाजा मोइनुद्दीन चिश्ती की मजार अजमेर शरीफ में मत्था टेकने पहुंचे हिंदू मुस्लिम करना तो इन लोगों की राजनीतिक मजबूरी है आप लोग कब इनकी राजनीतिक मजबूरी को समझोगे (Shiv Sena’s crown prince Aaditya Thackeray along with his family visited Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti’s Dargah in Ajmer to pay his respects after getting elected as MLA. Playing Hindu-Muslim politics is a political necessity. When will you understand their political necessities -translated)”, reads the message shared along with the video on Facebook.

शिवसेना के युवराज आदित्य ठाकरे अपने परिवार में पहली बार जनता के द्वारा चुनकर विधायक बनने के बाद ख्वाजा मोइनुद्दीन चिश्ती की मजार अजमेर शरीफ में मत्था टेकने पहुंचे
हिंदू मुस्लिम करना तो इन लोगों की राजनीतिक मजबूरी है आप लोग कब इनकी राजनीतिक मजबूरी को समझोगे

Posted by Quamrul Bari on Sunday, 27 October 2019

Several other Facebook and Twitter users shared the video with the identical narrative.

Gaurav Pradhan, who is followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter, shared an image of Aaditya Thackeray with a similar claim. Pradhan went a step further and claimed that Thackeray visited the religious place to pray that he becomes the Maharastra CM. Thackeray was donning the same attire as seen in the video.

Fact-check

With a keyword search on Google, Alt News found that the video and image are at least four months old when Aaditya Thackeray had visited Ajmer Dargah in June this year. News18 published the report on June 9, 2019.

We also found this image published in a report on the website ProKerala on June 8, 2019.

In conclusion, a video and an image shot during Aaditya Thackeray’s visit to Ajmer Sharif in June 2019 is being shared with the false claim that he visited the religious place after his recent electoral victory in Maharastra assembly elections.

Donate to Alt News!
Independent journalism that speaks truth to power and is free of corporate and political control is possible only when people start contributing towards the same. Please consider donating towards this endeavour to fight fake news and misinformation.

Donate Now

About the Author

Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.