Did Congress Workers Interrupt Uddhav Thackeray’s Speech?

A video is circulating on social media along with a claim that it shows Congress has insulted Uddhav Thackeray. The video appears to show Uddhav Thackeray being interrupted while speaking on stage. The accompanying text alleges that Congress workers from Wardha obstructed Uddhav from speaking at a rally. However, the claim the false. 

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The viral video clip is from Maha Vikas Aghadi’s (MVA) recent election campaign in Wardha, Maharashtra. Contrary to the claim made in social media posts, it does not show Uddhav Thackeray being insulted.

Firstly, the exchange between Uddhav Thackeray and others doesn’t imply any obstruction to his speech. According to the Marathi conversation, Uddhav Thackeray himself requests, “Let me speak for a few minutes because I’m short on time,” and those around him urge him to extend his speaking duration. Uddhav Thackeray then agrees, stating he will speak for a maximum of 5 minutes. This clearly indicates that nobody obstructed his speech.

Additionally, a YouTube search using relevant keywords led us to several news reports showing a longer version of the same event. According to these videos, Uddhav Thackeray went on to speak for at least another ten minutes without interruption.

According to another such report, while MVA candidate Amar Kale from Wardha was speaking, someone interrupted him, mentioning, “Uddhav Thackeray has a flight to catch and needs to leave early.” Subsequent footage shows Amar Kale encouraging Uddhav Thackeray to speak at the rally. Although Uddhav Thackeray mentions he can only speak for 5 minutes, others on stage are urging him to speak for at least 15 minutes.

Image Credit: Saam TV Youtube/Screenshot

News reports also highlighted the incident, stating that while other leaders of the coalition urged Uddhav Thackeray to speak, he appealed to the public that he would speak only for five minutes. Thus, from all these reports, it is evident that Uddhav Thackeray was in a hurry and intended to keep his speech brief, while the people around him encouraged him to speak for a longer period.

To sum up, this video does not show Congress workers preventing Uddhav Thackeray from speaking at a campaign meeting in Wardha.

(This story was originally published by Factly, and republished by NDTV as part of the Shakti Collective.)