Man attacks Kejriwal with shoe in Lucknow

Members of India Against Corruption overpowered the man,who hit Kejriwal on the shoulder twice when he was walking to the stage,and thrashed him up. The police rescued him and took him away for questioning.

Pathak said he beat up Kejriwal because he was “trying to hijack the anti-graft campaign”. He said Kejriwal “should have waited for the winter session when the Central government had assured to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill”.

Team Anna is misleading the country over the issue of corruption,” he said.

Superintendent of Police (Trans-Gomti) Nitin Tiwari said they had not received any complaint but detained Pathak for interrogation. “We have not verified if he is worker of any political party,” he said.

During questioning,Pathak claimed that he was in charge of the Jhansi region of the Congress Sewa Dal from 2006 to 2009,Lucknow DIG D K Thakur said.

Pathak told the police that he supported Team Anna but decided to oppose them after Prashant Bhushan’s statement demanding plebiscite in Kashmir,Thakur said.

When asked about Pathak’s claim,Prahlad Dwivedi,Sewa Dal in-charge in UP,said: “I do not know if he was part of the organisation in the past but I have the list of all Sewa Dal members,there is no one by the name of Jeetendra Pathak with us in Jalaun. We have inquired from the district level and found that he was once the personal assistant of a BJP leader from Farrukhabad.’’

Sources said Pathak had been seen at the local Congress office in the past. UPCC spokesperson Subodh Srivastava countered,“Anyone can visit the party office,but he is not any active functionary of the party.”

Kejriwal later addressed the gathering but made no mention of the incident. “You all assure me to not vote for the Congress in the Assembly elections if the Central government does not pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the upcoming winter session,” he said.