Shoe thrown at Rahul Gandhi during roadshow in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur

A shoe was thrown at Rahul Gandhi during his roadshow in Uttar Pradesh. The shoe missed the Congress leader narrowly but the attacker was arrested.

Gandhi, riding in an open top vehicle, was seen looking at the shoe thrown in his direction and then looking away after the object missed him, reports NDTV.

"I was just traveling on a bus and a shoe was thrown at me. It didn't hit me. I want to tell the BJP and RSS that you can throw as many shoes at me but I am not backing down. I will continue believing in love and harmony and you can stick with hate," the Congress leader said while addressing a gathering later.

The RSS or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is the ideological mentor of the BJP.

Rahul was riding in an open top vehicle through Sitapur town, around 85 km from Lucknow, when a shoe came flying at him. It hit the person behind him, which was former union minister Jitin Prasada.

One of the most protected politicians in India, Rahul was seen glancing at the shoe and then looking away after the object missed him.

Anoop Mishra, the shoe thrower, claims to be a journalist. "The Congress has left the country in the dumps in the past 60 years. I have been a journalist for two years and I know...What were they doing when they were in power?" he said while being led away in a police van.

Rahul, 45, is on a month-long "kisan yatra", his farmers' outreach in the state where elections will be held early next year.

He has completed over 2,200 km and has around two more weeks to go, his aides say.

Shoe missiles are increasingly becoming an occupational hazard for politicians, but many questioned the attack on Rahul, given that his security detail includes the elite Special Protection Group, which guards prime ministers and former prime ministers.