Maharashtra elections 2024: Rahul Gandhi’s bag checked by poll officials, Congress questions action  

Congress on November 16 created a controversy after election officials checked bag of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at Dhamangaon Railway in Maharashtra’s Amravati district. The Congress leader arrived in the district to address a public rally ahead of the November 20 assembly polls. 

Rahul’s bag was checked after his helicopter landed at the helipad in Dhamangaon Railway, which is among the eight assembly seats in Amravati district. 

A video of the inspection shows a group of officials searching Rahul Gandhi’s helicopter on a ground and the Congress leader standing nearby. As the checking continued, Rahul, who is the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, walked away and was seen engaging with party leaders.  

Former state minister and Congress’s Teosa MLA Yashomati Thakur questioned the action of the poll authorities and asked why they were not checking bags of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah or Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. 

The checking of bags of leaders, a practice conducted by the election officials to enforce the model code of conduct, came to the fore after Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray was subjected to it in Yavatmal. 

Thackeray not only shot a video of the procedure but also chided the poll authorities on not checking bags of Modi, Shah, Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis. 

However, videos that surfaced subsequently showed bags of Shah, Shinde, Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar etc being checked by poll authorities. 

Election officials checked the helicopter ferrying Union Home Minister Amit Shah and his bags after the aircraft landed at Maharashtra’s Hingoli on November 15. 

Shah is in the state to campaign for the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance ahead of the November 20 assembly polls. 

In a post on X, Shah said BJP believes in free and fair elections and follows all laid-down rules and protocols. 

“In a healthy electoral system, we all should contribute and fulfil our duties to make India the strongest democracy in the world,” he said.