A State Government employee was detained outside Gujarat Assembly building for hurling a shoe at Gujarat’s Minister of State for Home Pradeepsinh Jadeja on Thursday.
The employee hurled shoe when Jadeja was preparing to brief mediapersons outside Assembly over walkout of Opposition members from the House on the issue of Dalit Sarpanch’s murder in Amreli district of Saurashtra region.
As the Home Minister began his address, Gopal came within a couple of metres of the Home Minister and
hurled a shoe. This startled the Minister who dodged the shoe successfully.
The security immediately surrounded the youth and pushed him away from the Minister.
“Gopal Italia is a clerk at Tehsil office in Dahdhuk town under Ahmedabad district and prima facie appeared to be mentally unstable. He is the same person who had some time ago posed as a policeman and called Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel to complaint about the state’s new prohibition law,” said Gandhinagar range DIG RR Brahmbhatt.
The detained employee claimed that he had done so in protest against the “arrogance” of the state functionaries, rising corruption and unemployment. He further said that the act of shoe hurling was against the state government’s inability to control corruption, rising unemployment and poor implementation of prohibition act.
“Anyone in democracy has right to submit a memorandum on their demand. But the way the person has acted is condemnable. I fear that some leader from Opposition may be behind him. It must be investigated,” said Gujarat BJP president Jitu Vaghani suspecting the Opposition party’s hand behind the shoe hurling incident.
Condemning the act by the youth, Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil said that the government can punish any Congressman found to be involved. The youth was only giving voice to the anger amongst various sections in the State, be it youth, farmers, Patidars, Dalits or others,” said Gohil.