Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi yesterday stopped his convoy in Chandigarh to check on a biker injured in a road accident and helped him to his feet.
The video shows Mr Channi walking up to the biker as security personnel and mediapersons follow him closely. He asks the biker if he is fine and helps him to his feet as an ambulance approaches them. The Chief Minister then shakes the biker's hand and returns to his convoy.
The warm gesture comes against the backdrop of a fiery political battle between the centre and Punjab government over a breach in the security of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the poll-bound state on January 5.
The matter, which will now be probed by a panel appointed by the Supreme Court, saw the state and the centre trade barbs over the past few days.
While the centre accused the Punjab government of sharing no information about a farmers' protest on the route of the Prime Minister's journey, the state pointed to last-minute change in plans and asserted that there was no threat to the safety of the Prime Minister.
Shortly after the security breach incident, Chief Minister Channi was seen in a TV interview meeting protesters who had stopped his way, assuring them that he will look into their grievances and then continuing his journey.
The move was an apparent attempt to project himself as a political figure who would step outside his security grid, go among people and hear them out. Yesterday's episode appears to be yet another replug on the same lines.
Earlier, videos of Mr Channi stopping his convoy to greet a newly-wed couple and joining efforts to rescue a cow from a ditch have gone viral.
The public interactions seemed to be an apparent attempt to project himself as a leader the people could identify with. One objective behind this was to make the Chief Minister's office seem accessible after the tenure of Amarinder Singh who was criticised for his perceived aloofness.
The public outreach was also aimed at countering the chief opposition Aam Aadmi Party's common man pitch.
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