Sanjay Nirupam’s old video goes viral with misleading claim
Originally fact verified by BOOM, Be it the election season in the country or its results, during this time misleading claims go viral on social media. Similarly, in view of the Maharashtra elections, a video of former Mumbai North MP Sanjay Nirupam is going viral very fast on social media. In this viral video, he is seen appealing to vote for the BJP. Social media users are sharing this video calling Sanjay Nirupam Congress leader.
In our fact-checking we found that senior Maharashtra leader Sanjay Nirupam had joined the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) during this year’s Lok Sabha elections after being expelled from the Congress. This video of his is not recent but from April 19, 2024, while he was expelled from Congress on April 3. We inform you that voting took place on November 20 for all 288 seats in the Maharashtra assembly. Their results will be known on November 23.
In the viral video, Sanjay Nirupam is seen criticizing the Congress and appealing to vote for the BJP. He also says that other Congress colleagues should also leave the party, he has experienced this after working within the party for a long time.
What is the viral claim?
While sharing this video on He has appealed to the public to give their vote to the BJP, listen countrymen, why did he say that…?
Screenshot of a viral post on X
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Many users also shared the video on Facebook addressing Sanjay Nirupam as Congress leader.
Screenshot of a viral Facebook post
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fact check
This video, which calls Sanjay Nirupam a Congress leader and appeals to vote for the BJP, is from April 2024. The investigation found that when Sanjay Nirupam made this statement, he was not in the Congress. He is currently with Shiv Sena (Shinde faction).
The video is from during the Lok Sabha elections.
We searched for the original video on YouTube with the help of keywords and found this video shared on ANI channel on April 19, 2024.
The viral video statement can be heard in this video. In this, he is seen talking about voting for the BJP and its allies instead of the Congress in the 18th Lok Sabha elections.
We found out that ANI had addressed him as a former Congress leader. Along with the short version of the video, Nirupam was described as an expelled Congress leader.
We then searched media reports related to this statement of Sanjay Nirupam and found many news stories from April 19. According to a News 18 report, Sanjay had made this statement after being expelled from the Congress Party.
Screenshot of News 18 report
Then Sanjay Nirupam was expelled from the Congress.
In fact, on April 3, just before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had expelled Sanjay Nirupam from the party for 6 years for indiscipline and anti-party statements.
A day later, Sanjay Nirupam resigned from the Congress. However, Sanjay Nirupam said that after receiving his resignation, the party took a decision to expel him.
Sanjay Nirupam is currently with Shiv Sena (Shinde faction)
About a month after his expulsion, on May 3, Sanjay Nirupam joined Shiv Sena (Shinde) in the presence of Eknath Shinde.
Sanjay Nirupam’s political career began with Shiv Sena (Undivided). During this period, he was the editor of Shiv Sena’s Hindi mouthpiece, ‘Dopahar Ka Saamna’. In 2005, he joined the Congress and was elected MP from Mumbai North in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. After remaining in the Congress for almost 19 years, in May 2024 he joined the Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, which currently forming a grand alliance with the BJP in Maharashtra.
Say: Veteran Maharashtra Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam says vote for the BJP but not the Congress.
Claimed by: social media posts
Fact Check: misleading
(Disclaimer: This fact check was originally conducted by BOOM, republished by India TV with the help of Shakti Collective)
