Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the authenticity of the viral video involving his cabinet colleague, Narhari Zirwal, and a transwoman will be probed. The CM’s statement comes after Zirwal told the Chief Minister that the viral video, which has become a sensation on the internet, was made by stitching together three or four different clips.
When asked if the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader will be asked to step down, Fadnavis reportedly said: "He told me that the video has been wrongly created by stitching together 3–4 different clips. This should be investigated. I advised him to immediately file a complaint. The authenticity of the video will be verified. After that, Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, who is the leader of his party, and I will take an appropriate decision regarding his resignation."
It was over the telephone that Zirwal explained his side to Fadnavis, TV9 Marathi said in a report. The video reportedly showed Zirwal, the Minister of Food and Drug Administration, in a compromising position with the transwoman at his official residence. THE WEEK could not independently verify the authenticity of the viral video.
The opposition Congress earlier in the day demanded that he should be sacked over his "obscene and unethical behaviour". "It is an assembled video and leaked only with the intention of blackmailing.... Nobody has asked for my resignation," Zirwal had earlier told news agency PTI. The minister, however, admitted that he had known the transwoman seen in the video for the last five years.
The 66-year-old Zirwal is a four-time MLA from Dindori in the Nashik district and a former Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
This is the second controversy involving Zirwal in two months. In February, an FDA clerk was caught red-handed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) while allegedly accepting a ₹35,000 bribe in Mantralaya, the state secretariat. Zirwal heads the FDA department.
