Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal and Kanhaiya Kumar were booked on Tuesday by the Assam Police over charges of violence, provocation , damage to public property and assault on police personnel.
“With reference to wanton acts of violence, provocation , damage to public property and assault on police personnel today by Cong members , a FIR has been registered against Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal , Kanhaiya Kumar and other individuals under section 120(B)143/147/188/283/353/332/333/427 IPC R/W Sec. 3 of PDPP Act,” Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in a post on social platform X.
The showdown between the BJP-led Assam government and Rahul Gandhi, who is currently in the state as part of his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, intensified on Tuesday. The Congress workers were stopped from entering Guwahati city, resulting in clashes between the cadre and police.
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.
