Guwahati: A clash broke out between police personnel and Congress workers after the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra was stopped from entering Guwahati city on Tuesday.
The police, which had set up barricades at two places to prevent the Yatra from entering the city limits, had to use force to stop the Congress workers causing injury to several party workers including Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President Bhupen Borah.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier said the Yatra would not be allowed to enter the city to avoid traffic jams. The Yatra, which entered Meghalaya on Monday, returned to Assam for its last leg and will travel through the outskirts of the state’s largest city Guwahati.
Responding to Congress leader Srinivas BV’s claim that there had been a conspiracy to stop the Yatra, Sarma said, “These are not part of Assamese culture. We are a peaceful state. Such “naxalite tactics” are completely alien to our culture. 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.”
Gandhi later addressed party supporters on the outskirts of the city, and said, “We have broken barricades, but will not break the law.”
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He was earlier accorded a boisterous welcome as he tried to enter Guwahati and addressed some varsity students on the way.
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