Man attempts to hug Rahul Gandhi during Bharat Jodo Yatra in Punjab's Hoshiarpur

'It happened many a times before, I wouldn’t call that a security lapse,' Rahul said

An "over-enthusiastic" man who rushed towards Rahul Gandhi to hug him during the Bharat Jodo Yatra here on Tuesday triggered a security scare but police and Congress said there was no security lapse.

As the man wearing a jacket rushed to Rahul to embrace him, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Warring and others near Rahul stopped him and pushed him away. Inspector General GS Dhillon later said Rahul himself had called the man and there was no security breach, which was echoed by Warring.

Asked about the incident, Rahul told a press conference that someone came to hug him. "I don’t know why you are calling that a lapse. I think he was checked by the security people. He was a bit over excited. It is not a problem. It happens quite often," he said.

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"There is quite a lot of enthusiasm in the yatra. Many people get over excited and that was a case, where he was a bit extra charged up. So, there is no problem. It happened many a times before, I wouldn’t call that a security lapse," he added.

Dhillon said, “I have verified it. Rahul ji himself called him (the man) and then he tried to hug him (the Congress MP). After that (Amrinder Singh) Raja warring pushed him away as the yatra moves with a certain speed and it affects its movement."

Asked about the criticism by Akali Dal and others of yatra and demand for an apology for the 'Operation Blue Star' and anti-Sikh riots, Rahul said the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has made his and party's position "very clear" on the issue in Parliament. He said the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi has also done the same and he fully endorsed what Singh and Sonia did.

"I have also made my stance abundantly clear in the past," he added.