Salman Khurshid condemns shoe-hurling incident on Rahul Gandhi

Farrukhabad, Jan 24 (ANI): Strongly condemning the shoe hurling incident on Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Dehradun, Union Law and Justice Minister Salman Khurshid has said it was against the nation's democratic traditions.

"Anyone throwing a shoe on anyone is unfortunate. Whoever commits such acts is against the democratic traditions. The person wants media attention by such acts and that is why he or she indulges in it. I also understand the compulsion of the media, they have to show what is making news," Khurshid told media here.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla said strict action should be taken against such people to ensure that such incidents do not occur again.

"Such elements who work against leaders in the country should be heavily penalized and strict action should be taken against them and they should not be forgiven. Even if one of them is left without being punished, it encourages other such groups and such a scenario is detrimental for a free political dialogue in the country," Shukla added.

Samajwadi Party (SP) Azam Khan described it as an attack on the country's democratic setup.

"We strongly condemn the assault on Rahul Gandhi because if such an attack can be attempted on a man like Rahul Gandhi who has so much security, then people like us are totally unsafe. This incident is an attack on our democratic setup and not on Gandhi alone. Leaders like us are extremely vulnerable and at the brink of being attacked all the time," Azam told media in Rampur.

Kuldeep Singh (26) hurled shoe towards Rahul Gandhi's dais as soon as he begun addressing his last poll rally at Vikasnagar in the outskirts of Dehradun on Monday.

The shoe-hurling incident on the Amethi MP came two days after a similar attack on Team Anna members in Uttarakhand. A slipper was hurled at Team Anna members during a public rally in Dehradun on Saturday. (ANI)