As shoe-throwing gains popularity among Indians facing politicians — a chappal thrown at L K Advani missed its target in Katni, Madhya Pradesh this morning — Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has become the first leader to take preventive action.

At an election meeting addressed by Modi earlier this week in Dehgam (constituency Ahmedabad East), a tall iron net was erected in front of the dais, and the crowd was kept at a distance of 20 metres.

A top official in the Gujarat home department said the government took the step after receiving an advisory from the Union Home Ministry suggesting “precautionary measures” for senior leaders after Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Congress MP from Kurukshetra Naveen Jindal faced shoe attacks.

Pawas Agarwal, the man who threw a slipper at Advani in Katni today, is a former president of the BJP’s Katni district unit, who police said was upset “because he had been removed from his post due to groupism within the party”. Agarwal said Advani was a “fake iron man”, who kept changing his position, PTI reported.

Gujarat BJP spokesman I K Jadeja declined to comment on the Katni incident. However, a senior BJP leader in Gandhinagar said: “It seems people have started venting their ire against politicians by throwing footwear at them... BJP cadres will have to take extra precaution to shield their leaders from such attacks, especially when Advaniji visits Gujarat.”