Rahul Gandhi's car was attacked while surveying Gujarat's flood-hit areas in Banaskantha.
Highlights
- Cement brick was thrown at Rahul Gandhi's car in Gujarat on Friday
- Mr Gandhi, 47, was visiting flood-hit Banaskantha in Gujarat
- Youth Congress protesting in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Chandigarh
One person, reported to be a local BJP worker, has been arrested for throwing a stone on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's convoy in Gujarat that the Congress leader insisted was carried out by workers from the BJP and the RSS.
"This is their, and PM Modi's way of politics," he said on Saturday, explaining the reluctance of BJP leaders to condemn the attack to the involvement of their party workers. "When they themselves do such a thing, how will they condemn it. It is done by their people so why would they condemn it," Mr Gandhi added.
Banaskantha Superintendent of Police Niraj Badgujar said Jayesh Darji alias Anil Rathod had been arrested for allegedly throwing a stone at the vehicle in which Mr Gandhi was travelling. The officer said his name was given by Congress members during investigation.
Local Congress leaders have told the police that Jayesh Darji is the secretary of the district's youth wing of the BJP.
A cement brick was thrown at Rahul Gandhi's convoy
47-year-old Mr Gandhi was touring flood-hit Banaskantha in Gujarat when someone flung a cement brick at his car. The Congress leader said he wasn't hurt in the attack but his personal security officer was.
The BJP had initially denied that their party workers could be involved. "We don't know if the attack was real or orchestrated," senior BJP leader Kailash Vijaywargiya said.
Mr Gandhi had reportedly been asked to travel in his bulletproof vehicle but he chose to sit in the first car of his convoy. "Sometimes one has to use a non-bullet proof car and be sensitive to the public," senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said.
"It is a murderous attack by the BJP, RSS," Mr Azad said, calling it a "pre-planned conspiracy".
Banaskantha, one of the areas in Gujarat worst-affected by the flood, is represented by six Congress lawmakers but none of them have visited their constituencies. They are at a resort in Bengaluru - an attempt by the Congress to protect them from being poached before the Rajya Sabha polls on Tuesday.
The Congress flew 43 Gujarat lawmakers to Bengaluru last Friday to prevent more defections after six of its legislators quit.