Ahmedabad, Oct 26 (PTI) An unidentified person on Monday hurled a shoe in the direction of Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel when he was addressing the media after a poll rally in Vadodara district.
However, the footwear missed the target and landed just a few inches away from Patel.
While the police started an investigation into the incident, the ruling BJP saw Congress's hand in the episode, a charge rejected by the opposition party.
The incident, which was captured in TV cameras, took place on Monday evening at Kurali village under Karjan taluka in Vadodara district, where a poll rally was organised by the BJP in support of its candidate Akshay Patel.
Karjan is one of the eight assembly seats going to bypolls on November 3.
When Patel was addressing the media near the stage after the rally, someone hurled a shoe in his direction from behind.
Luckily for Patel, the footwear missed him and landed on TV channel mics.
While Patel sough to play down the entire episode, saying he had "no idea how it happened," state BJP spokesperson Prashant Vala blamed the Congress for the incident.
"Seeing defeat, the Congress has stooped down to such a low level. It was indeed a Congress worker's act," alleged Vala.
Hitting back, Congress spokesperson Jayrajsinh Parmar said it could be an act of a disgruntled BJP worker as he claimed that "all those present at the rally were BJP workers and supporters".
Karjan Police Inspector AA Desai rushed to the spot and started an investigation.
"Though our policemen were present here, no one saw the person who threw the shoe. We are collecting videos of the rally to identify the culprit," said Desai.
