Old Video Of A Specially-Abled Girl Putting Tilak On Devendra Fadnavis Going Viral Recent.

Recently a video of a specially-abled girl applying Tilak with her feet on Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis went viral on social media. Sharing the video on social media, users are claiming that the girl put Tilak on Devendra Fadnavis after he was elected as the CM of Maharashtra recently.

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However, as we investigated, we came to know that the video had been shared without proper context. The video is old and not related to the recent Maharashtra elections. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check 

We started our investigation by taking some screenshots from the viral video and conducting a reverse image search. This led us to a news report published in ABP Marathi on 28 June 2023. The report contained an image similar to the screenshots of the viral video. The report read, “…Chief Minister Eknath Shinde along with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis were on a tour of Jalgaon. During this visit, they visited the morale project for disabled children in Jalgaon . During this visit, they inspected the project and interacted with the children. During the project visit, a disabled young woman greeted Fadnavis by placing a til on her foot. At this time, Fadnavis thanked her and this incident also made his eyes wet. The video of this incident has gone viral on social media. After this visit, Devendra Fadnavis left for the venue…”

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Moving forward, using relevant keywords, we found a tweet on the official X handle of Devendra Fadnavis on 27 June 2023. Sharing a few images similar to the screenshots of the viral video, Devendra Fadnavis tweeted, “Till date many mothers and sisters have performed aarti and applied tilak as a blessing.

Today too, with the same feeling, a thumb reached to apply tilak on my forehead… but this time, it was not the thumb of the hand, but of the foot.

Such moments in life shake you up and make your eyes moist, but only for a few moments.

Because when this sister applied tilak on my forehead with her toe, when she performed aarti with the same toes, it was clearly visible in the smile on her face and the sparkle in her eyes that she was saying, “Who can defeat me, I don’t need anyone’s sympathy, I don’t need anyone’s mercy, I am strong myself”.

Seeing her I only said, “Sister, we are with you in every fight of yours”. Taking inspiration from this sister I remembered the lines of Kusumagraj Ji –

“Anant Amuchi Dhyeyasakti Anant An Asha Kinara Tula Pamrala!”

We found another tweet on Devendra Fadnavis’s official X handle on 27 June 2023, that contained the viral video.

A report published on NDTV on 28 June 2023, which contained an image similar to the screenshot of the viral video, read, “Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis while on his visit to Jalgaon, visited the Deepstambh Foundation’s initiative for specially-abled. Something that happened there left the state deputy “teary-eyed”.

During his visit, he was welcomed with a ’tilak’ by a specially-abled girl. The BJP leader took to social media to share pictures…”

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It is worth mentioning that Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the third time on 5 December 2024.

This makes it clear that the viral video is old. The specially-abled girl had put Tilak on Devendra Fadnavis when he was the Deputy CM of Maharashtra. 

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the claim is missing context. The video of a specially-abled girl putting Tilak on Devendra Fadnavis is from 2023 when Devendra Fadnavis was the Deputy CM of Maharashtra. This has no link to the recent Maharashtra elections.