File photo of Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar
George W Bush is no longer in the White House, but the now historic tradition of shoe-throwing as protest -- made first against him in 2008 -- has come as far as Gadchiroli. Today, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar joined the long list of Indian politicians who had shoes -- in this case, a pair of chappals -- thrown at them.
The culprit was a pro-Vidarbha activist, Ms Shobha Maski. And though her aim was a trifle faulty - the chappals hit a worker of Mr Pawar's NCP - she was promptly taken into custody by the police.
The occasion was a rally of the NCP in Chamorshi, 230 km from Nagpur, and it was not immediately known which of Mr Pawar's comments had incensed Ms Maski. The NCP is not opposed to statehood for Vidarbha.
But Ms Maski and her husband have been known to be staunch activists of the Vidarbha movement and their aggressive style of agitation has always created a stir. Last winter, they had tied themselves in chains and walked all the way from Gadchiroli to Nagpur.
Mr Pawar, though, had been luckier than his uncle. Three years ago, Sharad Pawar had been slapped by a Sikh man.
As for those who missed the boot by inches - the list sounds like the who's who of Indian politics: P Chidambaram, LK Advani, BS Yeddyurappa, Omar Abdullah, Manmohan Singh, Arvind Kejriwal and yoga guru Ramdev.