A young man hurled a shoe at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during a public meeting organised by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) here on Sunday. The culprit was allegedly thrashed by party supporters before being handed over to the police.
Mr. Kejriwal was speaking on demonetisation when the youth, later identified as Vikas Kumar, a resident of Dadri district, allegedly threw a shoe at him. It fell just short of the stage, but created a commotion for a few minutes.
No formal case lodged
Later, the police said that Mr. Kumar, a graduate, was upset with Mr. Kejriwal over his alleged remarks on the “Sutlej Yamuna Link” canal and surgical strikes, and threw the shoe after he was not allowed to speak his mind.
De02 Rally 2
The police said the man seemed to be mentally disturbed. No formal case has been registered against him yet.
CM attacks Modi again
Continuing with the address after the incident, Mr. Kejriwal said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not have the courage to face him and had sent his ‘stooge’ to throw a shoe.
“I had once said that Mr. Modi is a coward. This incident proves it...I dare him to come face-to-face,” said Mr. Kejriwal, requesting the party workers to let the young man go.
Mr. Kejriwal said demonetisation was not a fight against corruption, but a ₹8 lakh crore scam.
“How can Mr. Modi end corruption by banning ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes and introducing ₹2,000 notes? If he wants to end corruption, he should send corrupt politicians and industrialists to jail. Mr. Modi has a file. I have seen it. It has the names of 648 people, who have accounts in Swiss banks. But he will not take action against them, because they are his friends. Instead, he has made the rickshaw-pullers, women, farmers and traders stand in queues as if they all have black money.”
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Haryana AAP president Naveen Jaihind were also present at the rally.
