Fact Check: Did Uddhav Thackeray say he wants to make his son Maharashtra’s chief minister?

Hyderabad: A statement allegedly made by former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is doing rounds on social media. The statement claims that Uddhav Thackeray wants to make his son Aaditya Thackeray the next chief minister of Maharashtra.

News 24, through its X handle, shared the statement: “‘I want to make my son Aaditya Thackeray the Chief Minister of Maharashtra’ statement of Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray,” read the claim. Click here to view the archived post.

Another X handle, Sabse Tej Khabar, also reported the alleged statement.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim was misleading, as Thackeray was being quoted incompletely with context missing.

We noticed several users commenting on the post of News 24 that the statement is incomplete. One of them also shared a video of Thackeray with his complete statement along with the context.

In the video, Thackeray could be heard saying that even if he wanted his son to become the chief minister, it would require the support and will of the people.

Deputy Leader of Shiv Sena UBT, Priyanka Chaturvedi, replying to the query of another X user regarding that statement, said News 24 incorrectly interpreted the statement. She shared the video and wrote, “Here’s the video where he says making your son the CM is not like making a gully cricket playing on the top man at BCCI, Mr Amit Shah, for even if I want my son to be CM he will have to win the mandate of the people unlike using clout to make Jay Shah BCCI chief. (sic)”

We also came across a report of Times Now from March 8, titled “‘Lok Sabha Elections Not Like BCCI...’: Uddhav Thackeray’s Dig At Amit Shah Over ‘Parivarvaad’ Allegations.”

According to the channel, while addressing a public meeting, Uddhav Thackeray said making the chief minister of the state is not similar to the appointment of posts in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), subtly referencing Shah’s son, Jay Shah, being appointed as the secretary of the BCCI. The channel mentioned that Thackeray stressed that for Aaditya to become the chief minister, it would require the support and will of the people.

The report also quoted former Maharashtra CM as saying “Ok, I want to make Aaditya CM, but that can happen only if you all want him to be CM. Firstly, making him CM is not like the BCCI, how Amit Shah made his son Jay Shah the president of BCCI.”

We also found the same report by Mumbai Tak published on March 7. The report mentioned Thackeray attacking Amit Shah that the ‘Maharashtra chief Minister post is not akin to BCCI’s post that you can make your son, Jay Shah, its president using your clout.’ It also mentions him saying he wants his son Aaditya to become CM, but that can happen only if you (the people) want him to be the CM.

Hence, we conclude that Thackeray’s statement reported by News 24 is incomplete and misleading.