Lucknow: Arvind Kejriwal was at a public event in Lucknow when a man rushed towards the stage that the activist was exiting and threw a slipper at him. Jitendra Pathak was arrested by the police. He is from the Jalaun district; he claims that he is not associated with any political party, according to PTI. Mr Pathak reportedly holds the activist responsible for “misleading people on the issue of corruption.”

Mr Kejriwal is a core member of the activists leading the India Against Corruption campaign, fronted by Gandhian Anna Hazare. This is the second attack on a member of Team Anna in the last ten days.

Kiran Bedi, who is at the heart of that team, has asked for an independent inquiry into today’s attack. On Twitter, Team Anna posted, “Arvind Kejriwal attacked in Lucknow, appeal all to stay calm. We are ready to face anything for #Janlokpal .” Members of India Against Corruption in Lucknow said that Mr Kejriwal has “forgiven” his attacker and has requested that he be released.

Condemning the attack on Mr Kejriwal, Anna Hazare said in a letter, “If my health permits I will also gokaj_wplay_6.jpg with my team to Lucknow. We are ready to face bullets in our fight against corruption.”

Just a few days ago, another close aide of Anna’s, Prashant Bhushan, was attacked at his chambers at the Supreme Court in Delhi. The three men who beat him relentlessly till other lawyers overpowered them said they belong to an organization named Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena and wanted to punish Mr Bhushan for his comments on Kashmir. (Read)

Mr Bhushan had said that a referendum in Kashmir is needed to decide the state’s political future. Anna has said his team does not subscribe to Mr Bhushan’s views. The matter is reported to have caused a rift within Team Anna, though publicly, the activists have denied this.