NEW DELHI: Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray underwent further scrutiny by poll officials on Tuesday, a day after his bags were frisked when his chopper touched down in Yavatmal in poll-bound Maharashtra.
A team of poll officials checked Thackeray’s bags ahead of his rally in Latur as the Model Code of Conduct is in effect.
In a video shared by Sena (UBT) on X, officials were seen inspecting the former chief minister’s bags after they were asked to show identity cards.
“How much lower will the ‘Election Commission‘ go?” the party said in its latest post.
Former Maharashtra minister Aditya Thackeray also reacted to the incident, accusing the poll body of deliberately targeting the party chief to delay his campaign rallies.
Taking to X, Aditya said, “While the entirely compromised commission shamelessly continues to try and delay Uddhav Thackeray ji’s sabhas by frisking him, the question is: why aren’t the PM or other ministers visiting Maharashtra to promote the BJP’s loot being frisked this way?”
“What a disgrace it’s turning out to be — this institution,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission responded to the allegations of selective frisking and said that enforcement agencies were following strict Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to ensure a level playing field for all parties.
“Aircraft and helicopters of top leaders across the political spectrum are checked as part of standard operating procedure (SOP),” said sources in the Election Commission, according to the news agency PTI.
“There have been strict SOPs followed by enforcement agencies for a level playing field. During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a similar issue was raised in Bihar, and it was clarified that the helicopters of prominent leaders, including Nadda in Bhagalpur on April 24 and Shah in Katihar on April 21, were also checked as per SOP,” the sources pointed out.
This comes a day after Uddhav Thackeray questioned the Election Commission, asking whether it would dare to rummage through the bags of BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, during the ongoing poll campaign.
“The way you inspected my bag, did you inspect the bags of Modi and Shah?” he asked, adding, “Shouldn’t the bags of chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy CMs Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis be checked?”
“All these useless things are going on. I don’t consider it democratic. This can’t be a democracy. In a democracy, no one is big or small,” Thackeray said.
He further said that if election authorities do not inspect the bags of senior leaders from the ruling alliance, then workers from Shiv Sena (UBT) and the opposition MVA will do so.
