Rahul’s convoy attacked with stones in Gujarat town
A man from a hostile crowd attacked Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s car with a stone and broke a window on Friday during his visit to northern Gujarat’s flood-hit Banaskantha district.
Political barbs flew after the attack in Dhanera town. Gandhi said he won’t be cowed down by the heckling and stones thrown at him, while the ruling BJP responded by calling his tour a “photo-op”.
“We are not going to step back because of ‘Narendra Modi slogans’, black flags and stone pelting. We will do our best to help people,” the Congress leader tweeted.
The stone attack is a serious breach of security as Gandhi is guarded by the Special Protection Group (SPG), an elite unit that protects eight dignitaries, including Prime Minister Modi.
Gandhi flew to Dhanera from flood-affected areas in Rajasthan and spoke to people at Manotra village and surrounding areas before proceeding to the town’s farm produce marketing yard, where he met farmers and traders. Thereafter, he travelled to Lal Chowk in Dhanera on the way to the helipad around 2pm. He was to address people there, but the crowd waved black flags, shouted slogans for PM Modi and against him, and threw water pouches at his convoy.
A man then threw a big stone at his car and it shattered the left window pane of the rear seat. A security man from his team was slightly wounded.
“Gandhi was in the front seat,” the party’s media coordinator, Manoj Tyagi, told reporters. The car was taken to a police station and Gandhi left for Thara village in a helicopter.
“When I tried to confront those holding black flags, they ran away,” Gandhi said. “We are neither in power at the Centre nor in the state. But I and the party workers are here with you. Two-three black flags cannot bog us down.” The Congress demanded to know how stones could be thrown when police were around. “This is called an attack happening under protected environment,” said party leader Arjun Modhwadia, who was accompanying Gandhi.
For its part, the BJP questioned Gandhi’s decision to travel in a party worker’s car instead of the bulletproof vehicle assigned to him.