Shoe hurled at Kejriwal in Rohtak, he blames Modi

PUNJAB RALLY

A YOUTH hurled a shoe at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at a rally in Rohtak on Sunday. Calling the man a “Modi bhakt”, Kejriwal later blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the incident on Twitter. The shoe thrower was identified as Vikas Kumar, 26, a resident of Dadri district.

The incident happened when Kejriwal started addressing the Tijori Tod, Bhanda Fod rally against demonetisation. Kumar, sitting in the media section, hurled the shoe at Kejriwal which did not reach the stage. As police went after him, Kejriwal said he was a “Modi bhakt” and should be let off. In the meantime, AAP supporters caught hold of Kumar and thrashed him.

Police took Kumar to the Urban Estate police station in Rohtak for questioning. He reportedly told them that he had hurled the shoe to protest against Kejriwal’s stand on the Sutlej-yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue.

A police official said, “When we questioned him, he said the Delhi CM had said in Punjab that the state had no water to spare from SYL. He said that being a farmer’s son, he felt hurt by such a statement. He also said that he had tried to meet Kejriwal earlier, but was not allowed. Out of resentment, he had hurled the shoe.”

Police added that no case was registered astheyhadnotreceivedanyformalcomplaint. According to police, Kumar is unemployed.

A police official said Kumar has given a statement that he did not intend to target Kejriwal. Instead, he threw the shoe at the symbolic safe AAP had kept on the stage. Kumar also apologised for his behaviour.

“We have asked police to look into the matter as the person who threw the shoe was giving differing statements. He was blaming the PM for demonetisation and at other times, he talks against Arvind Kejriwal,” said Navin Jaihind, convener of Haryana unit of AAP.

The Delhi CM tweeted, “Modi ji kayar hain. Aaj apne chamchon se joota phikwaya. Modiji, hum bhi yeh kar sakte hain, par hamare sanskar/tehzeeb humein ijazat nahin dete (Modi is a coward. He got his men to throw a shoe. Modiji, we could also do this. However, our values do not allow us).”