It is scheduled to travel through Assam till January 25, covering a total of 833 km across 17 districts..
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s vehicle was allegedly attacked and media persons covering the yatra were “manhandled” by miscreants in Assam’s Sonitpur district, a party leader said.
“The car of Ramesh ji and some others were moving to join the main yatra entourage near Jamugurighat when it came under attack,” All India Congress Committee (AICC) communications coordinator Mahima Singh told PTI.
She said yatra stickers from his vehicle were torn out and the attackers attempted to put a BJP flag on the vehicle.
The attack comes a day after the Congress alleged that vehicles taking part in its Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Assam’s North Lakhimpur were attacked and banners were torn “by BJP goons”.
20-25 BJP workers carrying sticks: Rahul Gandhi
During a rally in Nagaon on Sunday, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said about “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 Himanta Biswa Sarma.”
Responding to Sarma’s claim that he was scared of him, Rahul countered saying the former was afraid of his alleged corruption being uncovered. Rahul also called Sarma the “most corrupt CM in India”.
“The entire country and Assam know that your chief minister (CM Himanta Biswa Sarma) and his entire family are the most corrupt people,” Gandhi said, while addressing a gathering in Assam.
Assam CM a chela of PM Modi: Kharge
Reacting to Sunday’s alleged attack, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said the party will not be cowed down by such intimidating tactics.
“Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will cross 15 states … The Yatra before this was undertaken from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. At that time, no stone pelting occurred anywhere. No attempts were made to scare off … Why is this happening in Assam? Because he (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.”
(With inputs from agencies)
