Fact Check: Man standing with an auto rickshaw in this viral picture is not Maha CM Eknath Shinde

Vishvas News (New Delhi): Vishvas News came across a picture being widely shared on various social media platforms. The picture is of a person standing in front of an auto rickshaw. It is being claimed by the users that the person seen in the picture is current Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde. However, Vishvas News in its investigation found that the person is not Maha CM Shinde but, founder president of Maharashtra Rickshaw Panchayat, Baba Kamble.

Claim:

Twitter user Swathi Bellam tweeted the viral picture and wrote: #EknathShinde the CM of Maharashtra
This is stupendous achievement

Check the post and its archive version here.

Investigation:

Vishvas News started its investigation by closely observing the picture. The number plate of the auto rickshaw seen in the picture is, ‘MH 14 8172’.

We then checked from where the code, ‘MH 14‘ is. According to RTO vehicle registration details, ‘MH-14’ is from Pimpri Chinchwad in Maharashtra which is in Pune. However, it should be noted that current Maha CM is from Thane, Navi Mumbai.

We then ran a Google Reverse Image search on the picture. We came across various profiles on Facebook that uploaded the same picture on the social media and clarified that the person in the picture is not Eknath Shinde.

The above post said that the person in the picture is not Eknath Shinde but, Baba Kamble.

Vishvas News then searched over Facebook through appropriate keywords.

We came across a Facebook page, ‘महाराष्ट्र रिक्षा पंचायत पुणे‘. This page had uploaded the picture and said: महाराष्ट्र रिक्षा पंचायत संस्थापक अध्यक्ष कष्टकऱ्यांचे नेते बाबा कांबळे यांचा रिक्षा सोबत फोटो रिक्षा चालवताना 19 97 सालीचा रिक्षा चालवत असतानाचा हा फोटो आहे
” श्रावण मधे रिक्षा पूजा करतानाचा,
पिंपरी रातराणी रिक्षा स्टॅन्ड

Translation: Photo of Maharashtra Rickshaw Panchayat Founder President Leader Baba Kamble with a Rickshaw This is a photo of him driving a Rickshaw in 1997
There was a puja in the month of Shravan at Raatrani Rikshaw stand.

It was thus clear that the picture is of one Baba Kamble and not Maha CM Eknath Shinde.

Vishvas News in the next step of investigation reached out to media coordinator of Eknath Shinde, Viraj Muley. He said that the person in the picture is not Eknath Shinde, viral claim is false.

Later, we reached out to Baba Kamble over phone. He told us that the person in the picture is indeed him. “The picture was clicked in the year 1997, at Raatrani Rikshaw stand’ in Pimpri Chinchwad, Pune. One of the Marathi dailies recently did a story on me and since then the picture is going viral with claims that the person in picture is Maha CM Eknath Shinde,” he said.

In the last step Vishvas News did a background check of the social media user who shared the claim. Swathi Bellam joined Twitter in the year 2020 she is followed by 3,621 people.