Tuesday 13 / May / 2025
Rohtak (Haryana): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday faced a shoe attack while addressing a public meeting here against demonetisation during which he targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The shoe, however, missed its target and the youth was nabbed. The incident took place this evening when Kejriwal, the convenor of Aam Aadmi Party, was addressing Tijori Tod Bhanda Fod rally against the demonetisation move.
The shoe was hurled towards Kejriwal when attacked the prime minister over the demonetisation decision, terming it as a "scam".
"The shoe did not hit Kejriwal ji," said AAP's senior leader from Haryana, Navin Jaihind, who was also present.
AAP workers overpowered the youth and he was later handed to police at Urban Estate station. Police said they were interrogating the motive behind the act.
The accused identified as Vikas (26), was a resident of Mori Makrana village, district Dadri in Haryana, a senior police official said.
"He is graduate and unemployed. When we questioned him, he said that he was hurt by Kejriwal's statements on the Satluj Yamuna Link issue which went against Haryana's interests. At the time of being questioned, the youth did not seem to be in sound mental condition," the police official added.
Kejriwal said the incident proved Modi’s "cowardice". "Maine kaha tha Modi ji Kayar hai. (I had said Modi is a coward), that is why he sends his stooges to throw shoes...but you may throw shoes or conduct CBI raids, that will not stop me from speaking the truth about demonetisation scam..," he said.
Attacking the prime minister on demonetisation, he said the move had "made poor farmers stand in long queues for their own money."
Kejriwal alleged that the BJP leadership had sounded their near and dear ones before announcing demonetisation. He termed demonetisation as the "biggest scam" in the country post Independence.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also targeted Modi and criticised demonetisation, claiming it had failed to achieve the desired objectives of ending corruption, black money, fake currency and funding of terror networks.
"On the contrary, it has hit all sections of the society, especially the common people," he said. Speaking on the occasion, Jaihind claimed that AAP will win 100 of the 117 seats of the poll-bound Punjab state.
Meanwhile, Congress on Sunday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sounded "apologetic" in his New Year eve speech as his 50-day "shuddhi yagna" of demonetisation has turned out be an "uncontrolled forest fire" that has claimed "several lives" and crippled the economy.
The opposition party also claimed that the scheme of financial assistance to pregnant women, announced by Modi, was actually started by the UPA.
Hitting out at prime minister for calling note-ban a 'shuddhi yagna', senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said the move is nothing short of an "uncontrolled forest fire" that has claimed several lives and hit the economy. He said the speech gave no "hard data" on how much black money was extinguished, whether sufficient quantity of Rs 500 notes were issued and about restrictions on cooperative banks.
Chavan said the speech did not have clarity on the legal issues raised over note ban and compensation for deaths "due to demonetisation exercise".
"The entire black currency available in the economy has been converted into legitimate money. Exact opposite of what the PM wanted," Chavan said.
Chavan also questioned whether there was a deliberate attempt to keep Rs 500 notes out of circulation and wondered whether Modi was advocating a zero-cash economy.
"This will be one of the most depressing starts of a new year in recent memory. The Prime Minister's speech was full of jingoistic appeal wrapped in nationalistic fervour comparing demonetisation with external aggression," Chavan said.
Chavan, who was also a Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) under UPA, said the scheme of financial assistance to pregnant women was started by the UPA in November 2010 as a pilot project. "It became part of the National Food Security Act (2013). The financial assistance under this scheme was increased from Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 in 2013 itself," the Congress leader said.
