Gandhi is leading the Manipur-to-Mumbai Yatra, which entered Assam from Meghalaya on Tuesday for the second and final leg of its travel through the state. It will travel through Assam till Thursday.
Published Date – 23 January 2024, 10:10 PM
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses a press conference during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, in Kamrup district, Assam, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. (PTI Photo)
Barpeta: Hours after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma asked the DGP to register a case against Rahul Gandhi for “provoking the crowd” to break barricades here during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Jatra, the Congress leader on Tuesday claimed that “fear in their hearts” has led to such a direction.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma directed Director General of Police G P Singh to register a case against Gandhi for allegedly provoking a crowd to break barricades erected along a highway to prevent Congress leaders and supporters taking part in the Yatra from entering the main thoroughfares of Guwahati, the largest city of the state.
Gandhi is leading the Manipur-to-Mumbai Yatra, which entered Assam from Meghalaya on Tuesday for the second and final leg of its travel through the state. It will travel through Assam till Thursday.
“They are jumping up and down now, filing a case against me. The case shows the fear in their hearts. They are afraid as people of Assam are standing up as ‘tufan’ and ‘andhi’ (storm) against them,” Gandhi said, addressing a public meeting at Goreimari in Barpeta district during his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’.
He also criticised Sarma for a social media post in which the chief minister had made a “derogatory” statement about Dalits and backward castes.
“Your CM said Dalits and people belonging to backward castes are born to serve general castes. What can be more insulting for Dalits and backward castes? Why are you silent?
“You should not be silent, you are being insulted. You should keep your words in front of the CM. I will do it. Dalits, OBCs, Adivasis, minorities are not less than anyone,” he asserted.
Through this Yatra, the Congress seeks to open a ‘mohabbat ki dukan’ in ‘nafrat ka bazar’ (a shop of love in the market of hate), Gandhi said.
“They have kept Manipur burning, that’s why we went there to be with the people. Then we went to Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and now we are here,” he added.
Targeting the chief minister once again, Gandhi claimed that youths are not getting employment in the state since the ‘most corrupt CM of the country is here’.
“He has only one work: to spread hatred, make people fight on the basis of religion, caste, language and when the people are busy fighting each other, they take the money out of your pockets,” he claimed.
Gandhi asserted that the people of the state cannot be suppressed through threats and in the next election, a Congress ‘tufan’ (storm) would sweep through the state.
“And after that, we will see who is posting what message on Twitter (now X) and slapping cases. Don’t be afraid, rather open ‘mohabbat ki dukan’,” the former Congress president said.
The chief minister said in a post on X that he instructed the DGP to file a case against Gandhi for “provoking the crowd’ for breaking barricades.
Youth Congress president Srinivas BV shared on X a video showing Congress workers breaking a barricade. Responding to this, Sarma said that the footage will be used as evidence.
