One Video Two Claims: Congress claims Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra Disrupted In Assam; BJP Claims Rahul Gandhi Lost His Cool To ‘Jai Sri Ram’ Slogans

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra bus came across a charged up situation with crowd carrying BJP flags and chanting ‘Jai Sri Ram’ slogans in Assam’s Sonitpur district on Sunday, what Congress termed as Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma’s frustration and desperation. Rahul Gandhi had later shared the video of the incident on his social media handle where the leader could be seen being rescued and moved inside the bus as crowd erupted in sloganeering. 

The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in covering the Assam leg after Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh where the Yatra is expected to continue for 8 days in total. In the video shared by Gandhi, he could be seen first waving at the sloganeering crowd and then volunteered to get off the bus. He could be heard in the video asking the driver to stop the bus and later he was seen walking towards the people who had gathered with religious and BJP party flags. Gandhi, a SPG protectee was immediately circled by his security personnel and taken back inside the bus to avoid anything untoward or an ugly confrontation. 

“20-25 BJP workers carrying sticks came in front of our bus, and when I came out from the bus, they ran away...they think that Congress is scared of BJP and RSS, they're dreaming. They can tear as many posters and placards as they want, we don't care. we are not scared of anybody, we are neither scared of PM Narendra Modi nor Assam CM”, said the Wayanad MP during his public address at Nagaon in Assam on Sunday.  

BJP on the other hand has used the same video shared by Rahul Gandhi, to slam the congress leader, claiming he lost his cool to ‘Jai Sri Ram’ slogans. “Rahul Gandhi lost his cool after Jai Shri Ram and Modi Modi slogans were raised in his presence. If this is how rattled he is, how will he face the people of this country in days ahead, after the anti-Hindu Congress rejected the invite to be part of the Pran Pratistha in Ayodhya?”, wrote BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya on ‘X’ along with the video. 

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh took to social media and claimed that his vehicle was attacked at Jumugurihat by BJP workers who also tore off the Yatra stickers from the windshield. He too had shared a video along with his allegations. “My vehicle was attacked a few minutes ago at Jumugurihat, Sunitpur by an unruly BJP crowd who also tore off the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra stickers from the windshield. They threw water and shouted anti-BJNY slogans,” Ramesh wrote on X. “But we kept our composure, waved to the hooligans and sped away,” he added.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge reacted sharply over the incidents and slamme Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, calling him a “chela" of PM Modi.

"Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will cross 15 states...The Yatra previously had covered from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. Neo incident happened then, no stone pelting occurred anywhere. No attempts were made to scare the congress workers..Why is this happening in Assam? Because the Assam CM is the 'chela' of PM Modi. He listens to what Shah says. He scares the Dalits, minorities & backward class of the country. By scaring people, he is working on the next election," Kharge said.