Rahul Gandhi relaunches ‘corrupt CM’ attack at Himanta Sarma as Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra resumes in Assam

Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders were booked by Assam Police under charges of violence, provocation and damage to public property among others.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday resumed his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra further into Assam from Barpeta, a day after facing a roadblock in an attempt to enter Guwahati city. Several Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and KC Venugopal, were booked by the Assam Police under charges of violence, provocation, damage to public property and assault on police personnel.

Ahead of kickstarting the 11th day of the Yatra, Rahul Gandhi addressed a gathering and launched an attack on Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, calling him “the most corrupt CM” yet again.

“The Chief Minister of Assam (Himanta Biswa Sarma) spreads hate all the time and takes away your (referring to the public) lands. He is the most corrupt chief minister,” he said.

The Congress has accused the BJP-led Assam government of trying to hinder their Yatra since it entered the state on Thursday. The showdown between the state government and the Congress took an unprecedented turn after party workers engaged in clashes as they were stopped from entering Guwahati.

Sarma directed the state director general of police (DGP) to register a case against the Congress MP for allegedly ‘provoking crowd’. “Naxalite tactics” were alien to Assam’s culture,” the chief minister said in a post on social platform X.

Gandhi hit back at Sarma during a press conference, calling him one of the most corrupt chief ministers in the country.

“Clear problem in Assam, chief minister of this state one of the most corrupt CMs in the country… What the Assam CM is doing against the yatra is actually helping the yatra,” Gandhi said.

“We are getting the publicity that we may not have got otherwise. The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra has become a main issue in Assam. Preventing from visiting the temple and college… it is their style. Intimidation tactics, we are not intimidated by them, we are not afraid of them,” he added.