During such campaigns, he is said to have misled his voters into believing that he was a son of the deposed "Domnitor" Alexandru Ioan Cuza, and therefore a natural champion of land reform. His activity in Olt is credited with having sparked some violent incidents: in at least one account, he instigated the peasants of Slatina area to riot, and their revolt was only suppressed with use of force. Others however claim that the Romanian Land Forces randomly shot at, then charged upon, the peaceful mass of demonstrators, killing at least 35 of them.