Shoe thrown at Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in Gujarat
Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Mansukh Mandaviya had a shoe hurled at him on Sunday at a public function in Vallabhipur town in Gujarat's Bhavnagar district. The shoe was thrown by a member of the Hardik Patel-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti; it missed its target as it landed few metres from the stage where Mandaviya was addressing a gathering.
A list of Indian shoe-victims
India has seen its share of shoe-victims over the years. Inspired by the shoe thrown at US President George Bush, in 2009, a journalist named Jarnail Singh threw a shoe at the then-Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram. Following suit, the chairman of Jindal Steel, Naveen Jindal, BJP veteran L.K. Advani, the then PM Manmohan Singh, Haryana CM Bhupinder Hooda joined the club in 2009.
More information about the incident
Local police arrested a 20-year-old college student named Bhavesh Sonani and registered an FIR against him. According to a PAAS convener from Bhavnagar district, Sonani was upset with the current BJP dispensation in Gujarat. Sonani felt that youths from Patel and other communities are left to fend for themselves after they acquire their degrees.
Other notable shoe-throwing incidents
In 2009, the then-Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, while delivering a lecture in Cambridge University, had a shoe hurled at him by a German student. In 2010, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair had eggs and shoes hurled at him in Dublin. In 2014, current US Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had a shoe thrown at her by a female protester in Las Vegas.
