Maharashtra Election: SOP, says EC on Uddhav Thackeray’s bag checking, cites instances involving Nadda, Shah

Election Commission of India has said that the checking of bags carried by political leaders is done as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). The poll panel's reaction comes in the wake of Shiv Sena (UBT) raising concerns over its chief and former Maharashtra CM, Uddhav Thackeray being allegedly frisked on his way to public meetings earlier this week.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) had shared the video of the bag checking and Uddhav Thackeray interacting with the officials after he arrived in. Thackeray could be heard, in the video, asking whose bags they had checked before him.

Thackeray said that he was not stopping them from checking his bag and asked the election authorities if they had checked the bags of CM Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A report in The Indian Express quoted sources in the EC as saying that checking of helicopters and the luggage was carried out by enforcement agencies as per the SOP set by the poll body.

The poll panel's SOP mandates that bags on chartered flights during elections are screened by Central Industrial Security Force or police personnel.

“A similar issue came up during the Lok Sabha elections 2024, following which the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bihar had issued a clarification. The CEO had said that the checking was done as per the SOP. The post also stated that BJP president JP Nadda’s helicopter was checked on April 24 in Bhagalpur and Home Minister Amit Shah’s chopper was checked on April 21 in Katihar,” the report said, quoting an EC source.

Voting in Maharashtra is scheduled for November 20. The BJP, which is in alliance with Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena under the ruling Mahayuti banner, is contesting against the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, which comprises the Shiv Sena (UBT), the NCP (Sharad Pawar), and the Congress.

Thackeray was seen telling the officials that he also wanted to see the video of the officials checking the bag of Narendra Modi and other senior leaders.

The Sena UBT chief shared this experience while addressing a public meeting at Wani in Yavatmal for party candidate Sanjay Derkar.

Thackeray asked his party workers and voters to inspect the pockets and identity cards of the officials who check them.