Jitendra Singh Alwar said he was tying his own shoe lace, which had come undone.
The BJP's Amit Malviya's allegation that a former Union minister was seen tying Rahul Gandhi's shoes during the Bharat Jodo Yatra has had the Congress up in arms. The former minister in question, Jitendra Singh Alwar, has demanded an apology from Mr Malviya, in absence of which he would take legal action, he said.
Earlier today, Amit Malviya had tweeted a video of Mr Gandhi during the yatra. In the middle of it, Mr Alwar is seen turning back and kneeling as Mr Gandhi stood facing him.
"Former union minister Bhanwar Jitendra Singh goes down on his knee to tie Rahul Gandhi's shoe lace. The arrogant entitled brat instead of helping himself is seen patting his back…," read the tweet by Mr Malviya.
Then in Hindi, he added, "Is this the practice Kharge ji was tallking about? There is no dearth of generations in Congress".
Furious, Mr Alwar responded shortly, saying he was tying his own shoe lace which had come undone.
"As incharge of ruling BJP's National Info Dept your tweet is a complete lie and defamatory. The fact is that after being pointed out by Rahul ji upon my request he paused briefly so that I could tie my own shoe laces. Delete the tweet and apologise to RG or face legal action," his message read.
Congress leader Supriya Shrinate echoed the demand, tweeting a photo of a worn, lace-less shoe.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra has entered Haryana after completing its Rajasthan section. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his former deputy Sachin Pilot and state party chief Govind Singh Dotasara walked with Mr Gandhi into BJP-ruled Haryana. Across the state border, the yatra was welcomed by Haryana's Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Kumari Selja and Deepender Singh Hooda.
Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan and its state in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil were part of the group.