Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, whose bag check dominated the political discussions on the poll-bound state today, played it down in an interview with NDTV, saying it was a routine matter for him at election time and not worthy of social media posts.
But in the backdrop of his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray's luggage check and his allegation that such an exercise is "selective", the ruling alliance went out of its way to prove that its leaders get equal treatment from election officials.
"My bags were checked during the Lok Sabha election and even now and wherever I go, my people remain behind," Mr Shinde told NDTV in an exclusive interview.
"They (election officials) come and check the bags. Now the bags of Nitin Gadkari, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were checked. So what? It is the job of the Election Commission or whoever is on election duty. 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 added, reiterating the party stand on the matter.
Earlier today, videos of baggage check for Mr Shinde's two deputies - Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar - flooded social media.
The Maharashtra BJP posted a video on X this morning that showed the checking of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' bags -- apparently on November 5, though the Opposition claimed it happened after the allegations. "Let it be, some leaders just have a habit of creating drama," the caption read. Ajit Pawar posted a video of his own baggage check.
On Monday and Tuesday, Mr Thackeray's bags were checked twice in Yavatmal and Latur. his party questioned if the bagge of Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are also checked.
The ruling alliance had questioned why Mr Thackeray was being so sensitive about a baggage search if he has nothing to hide.