Rahul Gandhi's bags inspected by Election Commission officials in Amravati

Election Commission officials inspected Rahul Gandhi's bag in Amravati as INDIA bloc parties continued to accuse the poll body of selective action, a charge that the BJP dismissed.

In Short

• Rahul Gandhi arrived in Maharashtra's Amravati for election campaign
• Poll officials checked his chopper, bag upon landing
• Inspection took place amid BJP-INDIA political row over bag checks

Election Commission officials on Saturday inspected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's bag on Saturday as he arrived for the Assembly election campaign in Maharashtra's Amravati. The incident occurred amid a political row between BJP and the opposition parties, who accused the poll body of selective action against INDIA bloc leaders.

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

The Congress leader's bag was searched a day after the party complained to the Election Commission against the alleged grounding of his helicopter in Jharkhand. Congress, in its complaint, sought the poll body's urgent intervention in ensuring a level playing field in poll campaigning.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that Gandhi's chopper was not allowed to take off due to restrictions, leading to his public meetings getting either delayed or cancelled.

The inspection of bags belonging to top political leaders sparked controversy recently after Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray first shared a video, questioning whether similar inspections would be conducted for Prime Minister Modi and BJP leaders. In response, BJP leaders defended the move, calling it a routine measure to ensure free and fair elections.

In the past few days, the BJP shared videos of the Election Commission inspecting the bags of NDA leaders, including Amit Shah, Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar, and others, to counter the opposition's claims of selective targeting.

PM LOSING MEMORY: RAHUL GANDHI

Addressing the election rally in Amravati, Rahul Gandhi claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent speeches mirror the opposition's statements. He humorously suggested that Modi may be suffering from memory loss, drawing a comparison to US President Joe Biden.

"My sister was telling me that she heard Modi ji's speech. And in that speech, whatever we say, Modi ji is saying the same thing these days. I don't know, maybe he has lost his memory. The former President of America used to forget, he had to be reminded from behind. The President of Ukraine came and the President of America said that Russian President Putin has come. He had lost his memory, similarly, our Prime Minister is losing his memory," Rahul Gandhi said.

Maharashtra will hold single-phase voting on November 20, with the Mahayuti alliance--comprising the BJP, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar's NCP--going head-to-head against the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which includes Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena, Sharad Pawar's NCP, and the Congress. Vote counting is scheduled for November 23.