A shoe was on Monday hurled at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi during his ‘Kisan Yatra’ roadshow in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district.
Anoop Mishra, a resident of Shastri Nagar locality, flung his shoe from a distance at Rahul at Transport Crossing, from where the roadshow started. However, the shoe did not hit him. The shoe thrower has been taken into custody, police said.
Mishra claims to be a journalist. “The Congress has left the country in the dumps in the past 60 years. I have been a journalist for two years and I know…What were they doing when they were in power?” he said while being led away in a police van.
The youth was heard saying “roadshow is useless”, according to an eyewitness.
Prima facie, the youth has no political links, police said. The matter was being probed.
Gandhi has been carrying out a campaign to assuage votes for the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. He has been conducting what the Congress calls Khat Sabhas is part of his Kisan Yatra.
He has completed over 2,200 km and has around two more weeks to go, his aides say.
Shoe missiles have almost become an occupational hazard for politicians, but many questioned the attack on Mr. Gandhi, given that his security detail includes the elite Special Protection Group, which guards prime ministers and former prime ministers.
