No, Sanjay Nirupam Did Not Call Eknath Shinde ‘Traitor’; Clip Is Edited!

The original one shows Nirupam talking about a Shiv Sena (UBT) MP's remarks against Shinde.

A set of videos of Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) leader Sanjay Nirupam have gone viral on social media, following the controversy surrounding comedian Kunal Kamra's joke on a politician.

The first video shows a recent statement by Nirupam, where he spoke against Kamra for a joke which referred to a politician as gaddar (traitor).

The claim: The second clip, in which the leader can be heard saying in Hindi, "The words 'My father is a traitor' should be written on respected Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's son's forehead," is being shared on social media, where users took at jibe at Nirupam for switching his statements after joining Shinde's Shiv Sena.

(Archives of more claims can be seen here and here.)

Is it true?: No, the video is edited.

• In the full clip from May 2024, Nirupam talks about a "woman Shiv Sena MP" who reportedly made this remark.

How did we find out?: We ran a keyword search using the term 'Sanjay Nirupam Eknath Shinde gaddar', which led us to a video by The Economic Times from 10 May 2024.

• Crediting the clip to an exclusive interview with news agency ANI, the video's description mentioned that Nirupam was "reacting to the comments of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi."

• Taking a cue from this, we looked for the original video shared by ANI.

• The agency had also shared the clip on 10 May 2024, carrying Nirupam's full statement in its caption.

• This made it clear that Sanjay Nirupam was talking about Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi's statement, where she referred to Maharashtra's deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde as 'traitor'.

• Responding to the interviewer's question about Shrikant Shinde, son of Eknath Shinde, he said,

"See, this was a response to someone's mannerlessness. A woman MP from Shiv Sena (UBT) said that 'My father is a traitor' should be written on respected Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's son's forehead. His son, Shrikant Shinde, is contesting from the Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency. I want to respond to this statement by saying UBT has acted as a traitor. Uddhav Thackeray has been the traitor..."

Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) leader Sanjay Nirupam

Conclusion: An old, edited clip is going viral with the false claim that Sanjay Nirupam had previously referred to Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as a 'traitor'.

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