Cong suspects BJP hand in Rahul shoe-hurling incident

Strongly condemning the incident of shoe hurling towards Rahul Gandhi in Uttarakhand, the Congress on Monday suspected Bharatiya Janata Party's role in it and demanded a thorough inquiry into the episode to find out the truth.

 "I condemn it. It is unfortunate. For some time, the BJP has been saying that people will come on streets and a civil war could take place. Such kind of irresponsible statements encourage such acts. I do not know exactly who is behind it but political parties and political leaders should be very careful before giving such statements," party spokesperson Rashid Alvi told PTI.

Asked whether he suspects BJP to be behind the incident, Alvi said, "In Uttarakahand there is the BJP government. Rahul Gandhi has been given Z plus category of security. It is very important to find out how a person could reach to a point from where he can show a shoe to his dais. A thorough inquiry is needed to find out the truth."

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said, "If such an incident has taken place then it is condemnable and we should not encourage such acts which do not bring glory to our democratic traditions and democratic framework."

However, at the same time he said, "We are a free country and a democracy. Every political party or leader has every right to put across his or her views to the people in the strongest possible terms."

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh said those hurling shoes or showing black flags have the same intention and motive. In an oblique reference to Baba Ramdev, he said, "They all have same intentions that somehow we would scare them and the cases, which are registered against them, will be stopped." Singh said Rahul belongs to a brave family "but who is Ramdev. He is a criminal."

A shoe was hurled towards Rahul Gandhi by a youth while he was addressing an election rally near Dehra Dun. The youth, identified as Kuldip, was immediately taken into custody. He is being interrogated.