NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, OCT 27
A day after an unidentified person hurled a shoe in the direction of Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday attacked the Congress and held it responsible for the incident.
Issuing a warning to the Congress over the episode, Rupani said workers of his party BJP would respond similarly if the opposition party did not control its cadres.
હું કોંગ્રેસને ચેતવણી આપું છું
મહેરબાની કરીને સંયમમાં રહેજો, મારો ભાજપનો કાર્યકર્તા સંયમમાં છે ત્યાં સુધી સારું છે, બાકી તમને ભારે પડી જવાનું છે.
એક પણ નિમ્ન કક્ષાની હરકત અમારો કાર્યકર્તા ચલાવશે નહિ ઈંટનો જવાબ પથ્થરથી આપશે,આ તાકાત અમારી છે.:માન.મુખ્યમંત્રી શ્રી @vijayrupanibjp pic.twitter.com/l6HqRCHyA7
— BJP Gujarat (@BJP4Gujarat) October 27, 2020
On Monday evening, someone hurled a shoe towards Nitin Patel when he was addressing the media after a bypoll rally in Kurali village under Karjan taluka in Vadodara district.
Luckily, the footwear missed the target and landed just a few inches away from Nitin Patel.
Addressing a rally in Karjan, one of the assembly seats going to bypolls, in support of BJP candidate Akshay Patel, Rupani blamed Congress for the unsavoury act.
Congress is demoralised because its leaders know that they cannot win these by-elections. In Surat, someone threw eggs at a public meeting called by a BJP candidate from the Dhari seat (JV Kakadiya).
“The accused caught by the police turned out to be the husband of a local Congress corporator, said Rupani.
Yesterday, a shoe was hurled on Nitinbhai. I am sure he (the attacker) was a Congress worker. Police are investigating the case.
“Out of frustration, the Congress is indulging in such undemocratic ways. But the BJP is not afraid of anyone,” said Rupani.
The chief minister then issued a stern warning to the Congress, which has already denied any role in the shoe attack.
“I am warning the Congress from this stage. Please control yourself. Things are good only till my BJP workers are keeping self-restraint.
“Otherwise, you will pay a hefty price. BJP workers will not tolerate such acts. For every brick you throw, we will respond with a stone. That is our strength,” the CM added.
Karjan is one of the eight assembly seats going to bypolls on November 3. Bypolls have been necessitated after eight Congress MLAs, including Akshay Patel, resigned from the assembly ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls in June.
Akshay Patel then joined the BJP, which fielded him from Karjan.
On Monday evening, the Congress had vehemently denied any role in the shoe attack on Nitin Patel.
State Congress spokesperson Jayrajsinh Parmar had 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”.
