Bhopal: An ill-conceived attempt at an aarti of AICC president Rahul Gandhi nearly spelt disaster for all involved, when the fire from a heavy multi-tiered “dia” touched a cluster of balloons, resulting in a huge flash of flames.
The Congress chief was conducting an 8km roadshow in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, on Saturday, October 6, ahead of the Assembly polls on November 28, when the incident occurred.
A video of the close call shows a sudden burst of flames after the dia came in contact with the balloons. As luck would have it, the blaze lasted only a few seconds and evidently, no one was hurt.
Rahul Gandhi and his fellow party members, Kamal Nath and Jyotriditya Scindia were in an open jeep only a few meters away from where the balloons erupted into flames.
Commenting on the incident, Superintendent of Police Amit Singh denied any security lapse, saying that they were all Congress workers and that the mandatory 15 feet distance was maintained. There is nothing in the blue book that prohibits workers from holding balloons and performing aarti, he added.
