Sharad Pawar’s bag checked in Pune amid Uddhav Thackeray frisking row

Amid the ongoing row over a routine check of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray’s luggage by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the bags of NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar were checked by poll officials at Baramati helipad in Maharashtra’s Pune district on Sunday.
Pawar was heading to a poll rally in Solapur, according to an associate.
The model code of conduct is in effect in the state for the assembly elections slated to be held on November 20.

“While Pawar Saheb was on his way to the Karmala poll rally in Solapur, his bags were checked at the Baramati helipad. After the due checking, he boarded the chopper and proceeded for the rally,” the associate was quoted as saying by news agency PTI in its report.
Election officials inspected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s bag on Saturday during his visit to Maharashtra’s Amravati district for a poll rally.
Former state minister and Congress MLA Yashomati Thakur criticised the action, questioning why similar checks were not conducted on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, or Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
The row over inspecting politicians’ luggage became a topic of debate after Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray shared a video showing poll officials checking his bags. Thackeray also questioned whether the bags of the chief minister, deputy chief ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Home Minister Amit Shah had been inspected.
In recent days, videos of poll officials inspecting the luggage of Amit Shah, Eknath Shinde, and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar have emerged on social media. Amit Shah, in a post on X, said that the BJP supports free and fair elections and adheres to all rules and protocols.