Eknath Shinde, Ramdas Athawale’s bags searched amid Uddhav Thackeray bag-checking controversy: Video

Maharashtra Elections: Amid the ongoing row over checking the bag of Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray, election officials on Wednesday checked the bags of Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena Chief Eknath Shinde and Union Minister Ramdas Athawale.

CM Eknath Shinde’s bags were checked at the Palghar police ground helipad after his arrival for the November 20 election campaign.

In a video, Shinde can be heard saying that there are only clothes and nothing else.

Taking a jibe at Shiv Sena UBT chief, Eknath Shinde said, “Let them check, they are doing their duty.”

Whereas, Ramdas Athawale's bags were checked by the officers after he arrived in Pune by helicopter.

On Monday and Tuesday, the officials had checked the bags of Uddhav Thackery after his arrival in Yavatmal and Latur, respectively.

Following that, Thackeray asked the officials, "How many people have been searched so far?” When they responded that he was the first one, Thackeray quipped, “I am the first customer then.”

After his bags were checked in Yavatmal, Thackeray also asked the election authorities their names and their posting, and questioned if they had checked the bags of CM Eknath Shinde, Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Further, he told them that he also wanted to see the video of the officials checking the bag of Narendra Modi and other senior leaders.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that Thackeray was trying to divert attention by needlessly protesting about the checking of his bags by election officials.

On Tuesday, PTI reported that sources in the Election Commission said aircraft and helicopters of top leaders across the political spectrum are checked as part of the standard operating procedure (SOP).

They also said planes and helicopters of BJP president J P Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah were checked in the previous polls.