Man waves shoe at Cong leader,is beaten up by journalists & Digvijaya

A person claiming to be a mediaperson threatened Congress general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi.

Two years after a journalist hurled a shoe at Home Minister P Chidambaram,a person claiming to be a mediaperson threatened Congress general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi with a shoe while he was addressing a press conference in Delhi today.

Dwivedi,flanked by party spokesman Manish Tewari,was slamming Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev when the attacker,identified as Sunil Kumar,asked him whether the Congress was very happy that its opposition was so weak. Dwivedi replied that nobody should have the misconception that there is no opposition.

As Dwivedi continued to field questions,Kumar climbed on the dais and rushed towards him with a shoe in hand. He was,however,overpowered by some Congress functionaries and mediapersons who started beating him up. Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh,who was watching the press conference on TV in an adjacent room,came to the briefing room and punched Kumar too.

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Kumar was then handed over to the police,who later arrested him. While Kumar claimed to be working for the Navsanchar Patrika from Rajasthan,Mukesh Moond,the owner of the publication,said that he was not a journalist. Moond said he had employed Kumar as an English teacher in his coaching institute called Sainik Classes,which prepares students for competitive exams,from December last year to March this year.

Speaking to The Indian Express,Moond said: Sunil Kumar has never worked in my newspaper in Jhunjhunu since I am its sole employee. The Navsanchar Patrika is a fortnightly newspaper meant for students who are writing competitive exams and nothing more. But Digvijaya Singh was quick to blame the Sangh Parivar. The BJP should first introspect. The quick reaction from the BJP indicates that they were ready for this. My charge is that he was sent by the RSS,VHP and BJP, he said,referring to senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussains reaction shortly after the incident that the attempted attack showed that the Congress had even annoyed the media with its crackdown on Baba Ramdev. The attack was absolutely motivated,planned and inspired by the RSS,VHP and BJP. It symbolised reactionary,communal and fascist ideology. This incident happened because the Sangh Parivar was being exposed after the admission of Aseemanand about the involvement of the RSS in terror activities, he said. Dwivedi also alleged the attack was pre-planned.

Whatever I have said has been proved by this man. Had this not been orchestrated,the person would not have asked favourable questions, he said. Singh later called up Delhi Police Commissioner to demand an inquiry into the incident and find out the true identity of the attacker.