Mumbai: For the second consecutive day, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray claimed that his bags were inspected by the election authorities on Tuesday after he arrived in Latur to campaign for the polls. An irate Uddhav, asked officers their names and to show their identity cards and appointment letter, and also asked them to send bag checking videos of Devendra Fadanvis, Eknath Shinde and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Uddhav Thackeray Targets Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde
Targeting CM Eknath Shinde, Uddhav said, “Mindhe, keep my bag with you and come along with me everyday with it. Don't steal my clothes like you had stolen my party” Later, Ajit Pawar said that his bag was also checked during the tour of Parabhani. Reacting to it, Sharad Pawar said, “It is the low level politics of the ruling party.” The Election Commission sources said that the checking of political leaders’ vehicles was being done as per a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
About The First Checking
In the earlier incident on Monday, Uddhav's bag was checked by the election officers at Wani, Yavatmal district. On Tuesday, the exercise was carried out at a helipad in Ausa of Latur for his rally in Kasar Shirshi village. Uddhav shot a video of the incident on his mobile which went viral.
Referring to PM Narendra Modi's visit, he said, "Modi is coming today and I will send you to Solapur airport. Modi should also be subjected to this kind of checking.” Later, while addressing a rally at Ausa, he said, “I don't have any objection to checking bags. I told officers to keep their team ready for the next place of rally. I was happy to shoot the videos, because I got a chance to start my hobby of photography again.”
Meanwhile, Uddhav's helicopter was not permitted to take off after the rally due to security reasons as PM Modi had a rally in Solapur. Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat clarified, “Police take the decision due to the PM's security. Not only Uddhav, but police would have restrained Eknath Shinde if there.”
