Man hurls shoe at Badal; Akali Dal blames AAP

A shoe hurled at Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal by an unemployed youth in a village near here Friday during an Independence Day function got political overtones with the ruling Akali Dal blaming the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the incident.

The shoe missed Badal at the "Shaheedi Divas" function organised at Issru village, 20 km from here.

The police took the youth into custody.

In a statement released later, the Akali Dal warned the AAP to desist from making attempts to disturb peace in Punjab through such incidents.

Akali Dal general secretary Maheshinder Singh Grewal said if such incident of shoe hurling happened again, "it would be difficult to stop the Akali cadre from reacting to the incendiary actions of AAP members".

Grewal said while democratic means to protest are welcome, "no civilised society could allow such attempts to disturb the law and order situation in Punjab to succeed".

He said the AAP member had not only tried to disturb law and order but also shown disrespect to martyrs on the Independence Day.

Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa also condemned the incident.

"This incident should be condemned by all as it is not part of political culture of this state," he said, adding, however, that it did reflect the growing frustration against the Badal government.