As Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra resumed its journey on the 10th day from Assam on Tuesday, heavy security was deployed at Khanapara Area, the entry point of Guwahati for the Yatra.
'We have broken barricades but will not break law,' Rahul Gandhi said after congress workers broke barriers to enter Guwahati.
As Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra resumed its journey on the 10th day from Assam on Tuesday, heavy security was deployed at Khanapara Area, the entry point of Guwahati for the Yatra.
Police stopped the yatra after Congress workers broke barriers, trying to prevent it from entering the city. “We have broken barricades but will not break law,” Rahul said after workers broke barriers.
Amid the face-off between Assam Police and Congress workers, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on X that he has instructed the cops to register a case against Rahul Gandhi.
"These are not part of Assamese culture. We are a peaceful state. Such “naxalite tactics” are completely alien to our culture, CM Sarma said, hitting out at the Congress over ruckus during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
"I have instructed @DGPAssamPolice to register a case against your leader @RahulGandhi for provoking the crowd & use the footage you have posted on your handles as the evidence. Your unruly behaviour and violation of agreed guidelines have resulted in a massive traffic jam in Guwahati now," CM Sarma said further in his post.
Assam Chief Minister and Congress leaders have had heated exchanges, with the latter accusing the former of creating roadblocks in Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
The state government, citing a working day in Guwahati and the potential for traffic disruptions, had directed the yatra to take the national highway route as it progressed towards lower Assam. Specifically, the yatra was instructed to follow National Highway 27, which serves as a ring road around the city.
This follows yesterday’s incident near the shrine of a 15th-century social reformer in Assam, where Rahul Gandhi was denied permission to visit a temple in Nagaon district by police authorities. The Congress leader questioned whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will now “decide who will visit a temple and when.”
During the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Rahul Gandhi accused the Ministry of Home Affairs of preventing him from addressing students, stating, “The Home Ministry of India called up the CM of Assam, and the CM's office called up the leadership of your university and said that Rahul Gandhi must not be allowed to speak to the students of this university.”
"It is not important if Rahul Gandhi comes or does not come. What is important is that you are allowed to listen to anybody you want to listen to. This is not only happening in Assam but in every single university, college, or school in India," said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
"You are being told that you must blindly obey the RSS and the leadership of this country. You are being told that you should not have your own imagination. You are being told that you cannot speak your own language. You are being told that you cannot have your own history. You are being made to be blindly obedient. They are trying to turn you into a slave," Rahul Gandhi added.