Shoe hurled at Kejriwal, AAP chief blames PM Modi; attacker thrashed

A man threw a shoe at Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal in Rohtak, when he was addressing AAP’s ‘Tijori Tod Bhanda Fod’ rally against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation move.

A shoe was hurled at Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal in Rohtak on Sunday evening during the party’s ‘Tijori Tod Bhanda Fod’ rally against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation move.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal addresses a rally in Rohtak on Sunday.(Manoj Dhaka/HT Photo)

Kejriwal had just begun his address when a man sitting in the media section threw a shoe at him. The shoe missed it mark, and Kejriwal was unhurt.

However, the man, identified as Vikas Kumar of Dadri district, was caught by AAP supporters who brutally beat him up.

Kumar was eventually taken into police custody at Urban Estate station. Police said they were interrogating him to determine his motives.

The person accused of throwing a shoe at Arvind Kejriwal in police custody. (Manoj Dhaka/HT Photo)

Kejriwal targeted PM Modi after the attack.

“Maine ek baar kaha that Modi kayar hai (I once said Modi is a coward. This proves my words)... Modi has no guts to face me on his own. That is why he sends his stooges to throw shoes at me,” he said.

He alleged that the government’s demonetisation decision was a planned scam by the PM and the ruling BJP that was “making poor farmers stand in long queues for their own money”.

This was not the first time Kejriwal was attacked.

In January 2016, a woman threw ink at Kejriwal during a public event that was organised to celebrate the Delhi government’s success with the odd-even vehicle traffic rationing initiative.

Four months later, a man threw a shoe at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal while he was speaking about the reintroduction of odd-even scheme in the national capital.

Both attackers were from the Aam Aadmi Sena, an offshoot formed by alleged disgruntled AAP volunteers.