Brazil presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro stabbed while campaigning

Rio de Janeiro [Brazil]: Brazilian presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro was on Thursday stabbed in the abdomen during his campaign event in the state of Minas Gerais.

Supporters were carrying Bolsonaro in the city of Juiz de Fora when he was stabbed by a person; the New York Times reported citing local media.

Flavio Bolsonaro, Bolsonaro's son, took to Twitter to report that the injuries are superficial and that his father is doing well. He later informed that his father had been wounded in the liver, lung and intestine, but was in stable condition.

A study by Brazilian research company IBOPE puts 63-year-old Bolsonaro in the lead in the elections with 22 per cent voter support. His closest opponents are at 12 per cent, according to the study released this week.

Bolsonaro, a right-wing politician, has garnered loyal support among several segments of Brazilians. He has condemned immigrants, promoted gun ownership in the country, and promised to reduce the violence in the country by making it easier for the police to kill criminals.

However, many in Brazil are against Bolsonaro for his alleged sexist, racist and homophobic stance. According to New York Times, he once allegedly told Maria do Rosario, a fellow legislator in Brazil's Congress, that she was not worthy of being raped by him.

In another incident, the Social Liberal Party leader said that "I would be incapable of loving a gay son. I prefer that he die in an accident."

He also publicly praised Col. Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra, a former colonel in the Brazilian Army, who was recognised by a Sao Paulo civil court as being a torturer during the military dictatorship of the country from 1964 to 1985.