Amid the campainging for municipal elections in Maharashtra, a video showing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ravindra Chavan touching the feet of a man is being shared on social media.
Those sharing the clip claimed that he sought blessings from an All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader during a rally.
Some context: Reports emerged that some BJP units had allegedly formed post-poll alliances with the AIMIM in Akot, Akola, to gain majority control of local bodies following the elections in December.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis termed the tie-ups “not acceptable” and ordered the party to break them, reported the Indian Express.
What we found: At first, we divided the viral clip into multiple screenshots and ran a Google reverse image search on some of them.
It led us to a Facebook post from 8 January and contained similar frames as the viral clip.
It was posted by a page named 'SVS Sai Chhotu Gurmukhdas Jagiasi.'
The post contained the very frame which showed Chavan bowing down.
In our research, we found that the man was a spiritual guru based in Ulhasnagar, Maharashtra.
The Quint contacted the guru's office and spoke to his assistant named Sunny, who debunked the false claim.
He told The Quint that Neeraj G Jagiasi, popularly known as Sai Chhotu Gurmukhdas Jagiasi, belonged to the Hindu religion and was a Sindhi guru from the Vasan Shah Darbar. He added that the guru is a prominent figure in Ulhasnagar who attended the BJP rally but was not affiliated with any political party.
None of the reports from the rally noted that Chavan seeked blessings of an AIMIM leader.
Conclusion: The viral claim is false as Chavan touched a spiritual guru's feet and not a politician.