Click to play videoNew Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has become another statistic in the string of shoe-gate incidents this political season.
The fourth major political leader to be targeted with shoes in this election season, Mammohan Singh was not actually hit by the shoe – a white sneaker-that landed far short of him at a rally in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Like the Home Minister P Chidambaram who had forgiven shoe-thrower journalist Jarnail Singh for hurling a shoe at him during a presser in Delhi, the Prime Minister too decided to press no charges against Mukesh Chauhan, the 21-year-old computer engineer who chucked the footwear at the PM.
But the Congress party sees a political connection in the entire episode.
It has decided to seek an apology from Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.
The reason and the connection is that the entire embarrassing episode took place in Gujarat where Narendra Modi is the face of BJP in a saffron ruled state.
Veteran Congressman Veerappa Moily said, “People of Gujarat are excellent. But we also have people like Narendra Modi who have led to hate-politics. If Narendra Modi is a gentleman, he has to apologise for what has happened to the prime minister.”
But the top leadership prefers to talk about their belief in Ahimsa, the philosophy of non-violence.
“It is a tradition of our country to follow ahimsa, the great path. Throwing shoes is surely not a part of that culture,” said Priyanka Gandhi.
"We condemn it outright. This kind of shoe-throwing does not go with the vein of democracy,” said BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad.
There have been other leaders who have faced shoe throwers in this election season.
Naveen Jindal, Dadan Pehlwan, LK Advani and P Chidambaram with whom it all began, have all been victims of such outrageous behaviour.
Hate speech and shoe throwing have already become the defining moments of campaigning 2009, which may not be a good sign in a thriving democracy, believe many.
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