False: NCP MP Supriya Sule sat in the Maharashtra chief minister's seat.

By: Ranjini K
September 30 2022

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Context

On September 23, 2022, Shivsena spokesperson Sheetal Mhatre posted an image on her Twitter account claiming that National Congress Party leader Supriya Sule was sitting on Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's chair. The post's caption reads, "Look at this photo... Who is sitting on whose chair?" In the picture, Sule is sitting on a chair with a tag right behind her on the wall reading, "Maharashtra government Chief Minister." However, an NCP spokesperson has clarified that the image has been digitally altered.

 The picture surfaced amid a rift between the Uddhav Thackeray faction and the Shinde faction of Shivsena. On September 27, 2022, the Supreme Court canceled the stay on the Election Commission's proceedings to decide who commands the "real" Shiv Sena, marking a big win for Shinde, as reported by India Today. Earlier, In June 2022, the NCP had announced support for Thackeray. 

In fact

On September 24, 2022, NCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto tweeted a similar picture to that shared by Sheetal Mhatre; however, the image didn't have Supriya Sule in it, and the chair was empty. Crasto sought action from Mumbai police, tweeting, "Picture of Ms.Supriya Sule posted by @sheetalmhatre is morphed with clear intentions of maligning her image. @MahaCyber1, @MumbaiPolice must take action immediately. #SheetalMhatre must apologize to Ms.Sule and take down the tweet, or @NCPspeaks will take legal action." 

 According to The Times of India, on September 23, the NCP shared CM Eknath Shinde's picture, which depicted his son Srikanth Shinde sitting in CM's chair. However, the party later clarified that the image was from the office at their residence. 

The verdict: 

We have marked the claim as false because the image showing NCP spokesperson Supriya Sule sitting on the Chief Minister's chair is a doctored photo.