Click to play videoAhmedabad: A man attempted to throw a shoe at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while he was addressing an election rally in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
The Prime Minister, who was giving a speech at Tagore Hall grounds in Ahmedabad was at a safe distance when Hitesh Chauhan, a 21-year-old computer engineering student, hurled a shoe at him. The shoe landed some 20 feet away from the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister stopped for a moment during his speech as one of his Special Protection Group (SPG) personnel ran towards the spot where the shoe had landed.
IANS quoting unnamed police officials said Chauhan was sitting near the press gallery in the first row when he allegedly threw the shoe. He was whisked away by police for questioning, a senior crime branch official said.
Chauhan, who lives in Bapunagar, Ahmedabad, has reportedly told officials he is not affiliated to any political organisation.
Sources tell CNN-IBN has instructed Congress leaders in Gujarat to tell the police not to register a complaint against Chauhan and he has forgiven him.
Congress Legislature Party(CLP) leader Shaktisingh Govil told PTI the Prime Minister doesn’t want to press charges against the “boy”.
“After PM's speech was over, he called me and said ‘don't press formal charges against the boy. I have forgiven him,’” said Govil.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) condemned the incident and demanded “appropriate action” action against him.
"We condemn it outright. This is not part of a democratic campaign. We have also condemned what happened with (Union Home Minister P) Chidambaram and we are repeating the same in case of the Prime Pinister," BJP national spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told CNN-IBN.
"I am quite sure that police will take appropriate action, which needs to be taken," he said.
There was no commotion after the shoe was flung and the meeting went on as scheduled with more than 500 people listening to the prime minister who spoke about the achievements of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government
On April 7, a Sikh journalist threw a shoe at Home Minister P Chidambaram to express his protest against the Congress fielding candidates accused in anti-Sikh riots of 1984.
That incident was followed by attacks on Congress MP Naveen Jindal and BJP leader L K Advani.
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