Alert security personnel helped abort an attempt by an activist to target Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan with a slipper at a public meeting in Pandharpur yesterday. The incident occurred when Chavan was addressing a meeting of the Sitaram Maharaj Sugar Cooperative in Solapur.

Shortly after Chavan’s speech started, a man — later identified as Mahesh Kedar — suddenly started shouting slogans demanding better remunerative prices for sugarcane growers. “While shouting slogans, he also took out a slipper from his foot and aimed to throw it towards the dais, but even before he could throw it, the CM’s personal security personnel pounced on him,” said an official from the CMO.