A bunch of gas balloons burst during the road show of senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley here on Tuesday leading to momentary commotion, when he along with other leaders of the SAD-BJP alliance were riding in an open truck.
Three time Rajya Sabha MP, Mr. Jaitley arrived by a flight in Amritsar, the constituency from where he will contest his first-ever parliamentary elections replacing cricketer-turned politician Navjot Sidhu, who is a three time Lok Sabha MP.
The incident occurred when a bunch of gas-filled balloons, carried by senior BJP leader Anil Joshi, burst leading to flames in the air as the cavalcade was passing through Novelty Chowk here.
Mr. Jaitley was accompanied by Punjab Cabinet Ministers Bikram Majithia and Mr. Joshi, state BJP president Kamal Sharma among others in the open-truck cavalcade which took off from Amritsar airport.
Mr. Joshi received some minor burn injuries on his face while Mr. Jaitley, Mr. Majithia and others escaped unhurt.
It is unknown whether the balloons burst due to heat or after being hit by a cracker being burst along the route.
Earlier, Mr. Jaitley was received at Amritsar Rajasansi Airport by Majithia and Joshi along with his party workers, MLAs and BJP local leadership.
Sitting MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, who made way for Mr. Jaitley to contest from Amritsar, was not present when the senior leader arrived here. However, Mr. Sidhu’s wife and Amritsar East MLA Navjot Kaur was present.
Mr. Jaitley also paid obeisance at the Golden Temple.
Later, talking to reporters, Mr. Jaitley thanked the party high command for nominating him from Amritsar and said he will serve the people of the holy city.
