Kejriwal called Uddhav Thackeray Balasaheb’s ‘nakli santan’? Clipped video shared out of context

A video is currently going viral on social media in which Arvind Kejriwal appears to call Uddhav Thackeray an “illegitimate” child and not a real son of his father, Balasaheb Thackeray. In this clip, Kejriwal uses the term “illegitimate” before describing Uddhav as ‘nakli santan‘ (fake). Many users have criticised his choice of words and commented on the need for more dignified language.

A Facebook page named ‘Unofficial: Rubbish Kumar’ shared this video, captioning it with the message, “Maintain the dignity of words”. (Archived link)

Similarly, a verified X handle ‘@ocjain4’ also shared the same video with an identical claim.

Fact Check

Upon conducting a reverse image search of the video frames, Alt News found an article published by India TV on May 24, 2024. The article contains an interview of Arvind Kejriwal, which provided some context to the viral video.

Using the details from this article, Alt News performed a keyword search and discovered that the viral interview was uploaded on India TV’s YouTube channel on May 24, 2024. The video is titled: “Arvind Kejriwal Exclusive Interview: From liquor scam to Maliwal case… the sharpest questions to Kejriwal.” The 16:42 mark of the interview features the clip that has gone viral. In this part of the interview, Kejriwal is heard saying: “After being the Prime Minister of the country for 10 years, on what grounds is he asking for votes? He goes to Mumbai and says that Sharad Pawar is a wandering soul, and Uddhav Thackeray is his father’s illegitimate, fake child. Yesterday, I heard his speech; he said that if you vote for the India Alliance, they will steal your shoes and run away. Are these the kind of statements a prime minister should be making? He also says that if you vote for them, they will untie your buffalo and run away.”

Therefore, the context of Arvind Kejriwal’s statements in the viral video has been edited out. Upon watching the full interview, it becomes evident that the AAP leader was actually quoting remarks made by PM Narendra Modi about Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray during the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign.

Further investigation by Alt News uncovered a live stream of PM Modi addressing a public gathering in Rajampet, Andhra Pradesh, during the 2024 Lok Sabha election. This video was broadcast on the BJP’s YouTube channel on May 8, 2024. Around 29 minutes and 31 seconds into the video, PM Modi can be heard referring to Uddhav Thackeray as “Balasaheb and Shiv Sena’s nakli santan (fake successor).”

To sum it up, during his interview with India TV, Arvind Kejriwal was referring to PM Narendra Modi’s words alluding to Uddhav Thackeray as “Balasaheb and Shiv Sena’s fake successor”. However, the video shared on social media has been clipped and taken out of context.

Pawan is an intern at Alt News.

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