Amid a controversy over the luggage of opposition leaders being examined, the bags of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, the party’s Maharashtra President Nana Patole and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) chief Uddhav Thackeray were checked by Election Commission (EC) officials in the poll-bound state on Thursday.

This is the first time during the campaign for the Maharashtra elections that Mr Kharge and Mr Patole’s bags were checked by polling officials. A video shared by news agency ANI shows Mr Kharge’s staff opening his bags for polling officials to take a look inside them in Nashik.

#WATCH | #MaharashtraElection2024 | Bags of Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge were checked by the Election Commission as his helicopter landed in Nashik pic.twitter.com/NlsgmanIyO

— ANI (@ANI) November 14, 2024

Mr Patole’s luggage was also checked in a similar manner at the Tiroda helipad in Gondia district, when he was on his way to campaign for a Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidate in the Goregaon assembly constituency.

#WATCH | Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole’s helicopter and bags were checked by an election official today. The helicopter was checked at Tiroda helipad while Patole was going to campaign for an NCP-SCP candidate in Goregaon Assembly constituency

(Source: Congress) pic.twitter.com/pt7oSSJ0vt

— ANI (@ANI) November 14, 2024

The bags of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray bags were checked twice in one day – in Shrigonda and Newasa in Ahmednagar district – according to videos released by his team.

The former chief minister has put out at least two other videos this week of his luggage being checked as he travelled across the state to campaign for the elections to the 288-member assembly on November 20.

The earlier incidents of checking had sparked a huge row between his faction of the Shiv Sena and the rival group led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

There were no immediate comments from either the three opposition leaders or the EC on the latest checks, but polling officials had earlier said it was a “routine procedure” ahead of the elections.

Earlier this week, Mr Thackeray was seen grilling a polling official who was waiting to search the former’s bags as he deboarded his chopper. In a gruff tone, the Shiv Sena (UBT) boss sought to know the officer’s name (Mahesh Shani) and see his ID card.

The former chief minister also claimed that the EC does not search bags of leaders from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or the Mahayuti alliance.

Sena leader Sanjay Raut had sought to know if the luggage of Shinde and his deputies, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were checked in a similar manner.

To counter the Opposition’s claims, the Maharashtra BJP on Wednesday posted a video on X showing the checking of Mr Fadnavis’ bags, and said merely holding the Constitution for “show” is not enough and one must also follow the constitutional system – a dig at the Congress over a controversy involving Rahul Gandhi. Mr Shinde’s luggage was also checked on Wednesday at Palghar Police ground helipad as part of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

In an exclusive interview with NDTV on Wednesday, Mr Shinde said it was a routine procedure for EC officials to carry out such checks. “So why the fuss and why the fear? We don’t create videos and post. They are doing their job, we are doing ours,” he said.

Mumbai:

Election officials’ routine checks of Uddhav Thackeray’s bags – in Yavatmal district Monday and Latur Tuesday afternoon, while the ex-Maharashtra Chief Minister campaigns for next week’s election – have sparked a row between his Shiv Sena faction and the rival group led by his successor, Eknath Shinde.

In a video shared online by news agency PTI this evening, Mr Thackeray can be heard grilling an election official waiting to search his luggage – a brown duffel – as he exits his helicopter. In a gruff tone the Sena (UBT) boss demands to know the officer’s name (Mahesh Shani) and see his ID card.

Mr Shani and his colleagues – all of whom appear nervous and overwhelmed, repeatedly bowing as Mr Thackeray addresses them – show the Sena leader their ID cards. He also demands to see their appointment letters and orders them to show them all the money in their pockets.

The exchange – which concludes with a perfunctory search of the bag by Mr Shani – also sees Mr Thackeray say sarcastically, “What do you want… I have no problem, don’t be shy (to the poll officers) … everyone’s names will appear on TV. You’ll be famous… no reason to be shy.”

VIDEO | Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray’s (@OfficeofUT) bag was checked in Ausa in Latur district earlier today. Uddhav Thackeray questioned the officials who checked the bags.

(Source: Third party)

(Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/n147TvqRQz) pic.twitter.com/aoclqRQDXI

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 12, 2024

“I don’t have any problem with you… the only thing that concerns me… no, I am not angry with you… we should not do other peoples’ jobs,” Mr Thackeray declares to the poll officers, underlining his party’s claim that the Election Commission does not search bags of leaders from the ruling party or alliance.

These, the Sena (UBT) has alleged, contain cash to buy votes.

The search in Latur today comes after a search in Yavatmal yesterday, after which Mr Thackeray’s aide, Sanjay Raut, demanded to know if the bags of bigwigs from the ruling alliance – including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah – were similarly checked when they were campaigning.

“Our luggage, helicopter, private jet, cars… everything is checked. They search our homes also… but we don’t have a problem if it is done impartially. But, where Eknath Shinde and (Deputy Chief Ministers) Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis are contesting, Rs 25 crores have already reached…”

READ | “Have You Searched D Fadnavis?” Sena vs Sena In Thackeray Bag Row

“… are helicopters and cars of Shinde, Fadnavis, Pawar, Modi and Shah also checked? Are there only clothes in their bags? Are (election) observers not able to see the money distribution going on…”

The Shinde Sena hit back swiftly; party spokesperson Krishna Hegde told NDTV Mr Raut has a “habit of making wild allegations” and pointed out Mr Shinde’s bags had, in fact, been checked. This was in Nashik, when the Chief Minister was campaigning for the April-June general election. “Shindeji did not make a fuss… didn’t create an uproar like the Uddhav Thackeray camp,” Mr Hegde declared.

The search of Mr Thackeray’s bag in Yavatmal was also filmed and shared by the Sena.

The 150-second video shows another official being grilled by Mr Thackeray, who asks him his name and then says, “I won’t stop you… you are following your responsibility. I am following mine.”

डॉ. बाबासाहेबांनी लिहिलेल्या संविधानात सगळ्यांना समान न्याय हे आम्ही मानतोच.पण यंत्रणांना हाताशी धरुन लोकशाहीला पायदळी तुडवून हुकुमत गाजविणाऱ्या दिल्लीश्वरांनी मात्र त्या संविधानाचा सगळ्याच पातळ्यांवर अवमान करायचा ठरवलं आहे.
आज उद्धवसाहेबांच्या सामानाची वणी येथे काही… pic.twitter.com/XyM53sKOsy

— ShivSena – शिवसेना Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (@ShivSenaUBT_) November 11, 2024

Mr Thackeray then declares to the officer – who says the senior leaders haven’t yet campaigned in the region – to make sure he inspects their bags when they do, and send him a video of the search.

The officer then briefly checks a brown duffle and a blue icebox.

After the row over Mr Thackeray’s bags being searched, EC sources told NDTV “strict” protocols were followed to check helicopters of political leaders during campaigning.

READ | “Routine”: Poll Panel Sources On Uddhav Thackeray Bag Check

Voting for Maharashtra’s 288 Assembly seats will be held on November 20, with results due three days later. Mr Thackeray’s Sena group is allied with the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party against the BJP and the Sena and NCP factions led by Mr Shinde and Ajit Pawar.

With input from agencies

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.