Man throws shoe at Kejriwal, misses

ROHTAK: A man hurled a shoe at Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal in Rohtak on Sunday when he was addressing the party’s ‘Tijori Tod Bhanda Fod’ rally against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s November 8 announcement to demonetise high-value banknotes.

The man has been identified as Vikas aka Tinku Phogat, a resident of Charkhi Dadri in Haryana. Following the incident, AAP workers thrashed him, after which he was taken into police custody.

At the police station, Vikas told reporters that he attacked Kejriwal for his “anti-Haryana” stand on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue.

“Jo Haryana ke haq mein nahin bol sakta, vo yahan kya rally kar raha hai? (One who cannot speak in favour of Haryana has no business to hold a rally here) ” said Vikas.

Police said they are waiting for a formal complaint before proceeding. Urban estate station house officer Ramesh Kumar, said, “Vikas claims to be a farmer’s son and has said that he was upset with Kejriwal for favouring Punjab on the SYL issue and his stand on surgical strikes conducted by the Army.”

The parched southern Haryana, which includes Vikas’ native village, is to be fed by SYL waters if it is built.

The incident occurred when Kejriwal started targeting Modi in his speech. Vikas was sitting on the other side of the fence in the section reserved for the media when he hurled his shoe. However, he missed the target.

Reacting to it, Kejriwal said the incident proves Modi’s “cowardice”. “Maine ek baar kaha tha Modi kaayar hai. Ye uska praman hai (I once said Modi is a coward. This incident proves my words),” he said.

“Modi has no guts to face me on his own. That is why he sends his stooges to hurl shoes at me. If Modi comes for a face-off with me, I will prove that Modi chor hai… Modi rishwatkhor hai… Modi paise khata hai,” Kejriwal said.