DEHRADUN: A shoe was hurled towards Rahul Gandhi by a youth while he was addressing an election rally near here, barely two days after a similar incident with members of Team Anna here.

The shoe fell 10 metres short of the Congress general secretary, Dehradun SSP G N Goswami said.

The youth, identified as Kuldip, was immediately taken into custody, Goswami said adding he was being interrogated.

As the security personnel and Congress supporters grabbed Kuldip, Rahul was heard saying “don’t hit him”.

The shoe-hurling incident on Gandhi came two days after a similar attack on Team Anna here. A man identified as Kishan Lal had hurled a shoe when members of Team Anna, including Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi, were addressing a public meeting.

Earlier, addressing a series of political rallies, Rahul attacked the BJP over the corruption issue.

In Rishikesh, in a bid to puncture the ruling BJP’s pro-Khanduri campaign, he asked why the current chief minister was removed in his earlier stint if he is so badly needed now.

”BJP may need Khanduriji but people of the state don’t need him, they need development. I want to ask BJP if he (Khanduri) is so badly needed then why he was removed (in 2009),” asked Gandhi addressing an election rally here.

As he began his second leg of the poll campaign in the hill state where assembly elections are due on January 30, Gandhi also attacked BJP for adopting double standards on the issue of corruption.—By arrangement with the Times of India