BJP orchestrating attacks on yatra in Assam, alleges Congress after Rahul heckled

Neeraj Mohan

Guwahati, January 21

Accusing the saffron leadership of orchestrating attacks on Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in BJP-ruled Assam, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Sunday that party workers won’t be cowed by such tactics.

Kharge slams sarma

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who was accompanying Rahul in Assam’s Nagaon on Sunday, hit out at Sarma’s tweet in the past denigrating Dalits. “Does the CM expect the Dalit ‘samaj’ to serve him because he is a Brahmin? Does he think that he is superior to them because he is a Brahmin? If you support this mindset, you can vote for the BJP but if you want to live freely, if you want to save Ambedkar’s Constitution, if you want to save Nehru’s democracy, then vote for Congress,” said Kharge.

Assam cm urges Rahul not to visit Sankardeva’s birthplace

The day the BJP is going to celebrate Ram Temple consecration by marking grand celebrations across the country, Rahul Gandhi will visit Assamese icon Srimanta Sankardeva’s birthplace. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has said Rahul should avoid visiting Batadrava Than, Sankardeva’s birthplace, during the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya to avoid law and order situation. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, meanwhile, said the route of the yatra had been fixed in advance and “it is imperative we visit Batadrava Than as we are passing through Nagaon”.

“They are neither scared of Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor your local Chief Minister,” he said in a message to BJP workers and supporters while addressing a programme on the sidelines of the ongoing yatra. He lashed out at Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over the alleged attack on Congress workers.

After noticing a group of protesters chanting Modi-Modi and Jai Shri Ram at Jamiguri Ghat in Assam, Rahul alighted from his bus and went into the crowd. Later, he returned to his bus and greeted them with flying kisses.

Sarma also shared the video of the incident on his account X with a post, “On the eve of Shri Ram Lalla’s ‘pran pratishtha’, Ram bhakts have every right to chant Jai Shri Ram. Rahul Gandhi shouldn’t lose his cool and be allergic to ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chants. He cannot instigate violence and threaten the public in this manner.” Rahul lashed out at Sarma for trying to intimidate Congress workers, reiterating his charge that Sarma was the most corrupt Chief Minister in the country.

Earlier, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh had alleged that his vehicle was attacked. “My vehicle was attacked a few minutes ago at Jamugurihat in Assam by an unruly BJP crowd who also tore off the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra stickers from the windshield. They threw water and shouted anti-yatra slogans. But we kept our composure, waved to the hooligans and sped away,” he said in a post on X. “This is undoubtedly Assam CM Himanta Biswa’s doing. We are not intimidated and will soldier on,” he added.

Ramesh also alleged that the SP of the district in which the attack took place was Assam CM’s younger brother.

The Congress alleged Assam Congress president Bhupen K Borah was beaten up by miscreants and he sustained injuries. There was another incident of attack on vehicles of party workers returning from the rally, eyewitness said, adding three members of the students’ wing were admitted to hospital with serious injuries.