New Delhi: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray was peeved after his bags were checked by Election Commission officials at Wani in Yavatmal where his helicopter landed near the rally venue on Monday. Thackeray questioned the officials if it will dare to check through the bags of BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, at the rally venues and during poll campaign.
Just as he and his personal assistant, MLC Milind Narvekar, alighted from the chopper, the ECI officials approached Thackeray and said they wanted to check their luggage. While allowing them to check the bags thoroughly, he directed his aides to shoot a video of the entire exercise, which was later posted on social media and went viral.
In the video, the former Maharashtra Chief Minister is heard asking ECI officials if they had inspected the bags of Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. When one of the officials says these leaders are yet to visit the area, Thackeray asks him to check their bags when they visit the region and send him videos of it.
During the interaction, the official also said Thackeray was the first whose bag he was checking in four months. To this, Thackeray retorts, “You haven’t checked anyone in four months, I was the first customer.” He also sarcastically asked one among the officials if he was from Gujarat.
VIDEO | Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray’s bags were checked by election officials after he arrived in Yavatmal via helicopter earlier today.
(Source: Third Party)#MaharahstraElection2024 pic.twitter.com/sMkm0Cffcu
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 11, 2024
‘I am not angry’
Later, at the rally in Wani, Thackeray shared this experience and said, “I am not angry with [the ECI officials] as they were doing their job. But I have a question: do they check the bags of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, that bearded person (referring to Eknath Shinde), the man with the pink jacket (referring to Ajit Pawar) and that deputy CM Fadnavis?”
He also said that if the poll officials do not check the bags of ruling party leaders, workers of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance will do that. Thackeray asked his party workers and voters to inspect the pockets and identity cards of the officials who check them.
