BARPETA (Assam), Jan 24 : A day after Guwahati Police registered an FIR against him and other Congress leaders for allegedly provoking a crowd, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday dared the BJP-ruled state to file “as many cases as it can”, asserting that he will not be intimidated.
Hours after his statement, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that arrests in connection with the violence during the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ on Tuesday will be made after the Lok Sabha elections, as taking such an action now will politicise the issue.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on security issues faced by Gandhi during the Assam leg of the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, asking him to ensure his safety.
Referring to the FIR lodged against Gandhi and a host of other Congress leaders, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who also holds the Home portfolio, said a Special Investigation Team (SIT) will probe into the matter and arrests will be carried out after the Lok Sabha polls.
Addressing a public meeting on Wednesday in Barpeta district, Gandhi called Sarma the “most corrupt CM” of the country and made a series of allegations related to land and areca nut trade.
“I don’t know how Himanta Biswa Sarma got the idea that he can intimidate me by filing cases. File as many cases as you can. File 25 more cases, I am not going to be intimidated. BJP-RSS can’t intimidate me,” he added.
The Guwahati Police on Tuesday suo motu registered an FIR against Gandhi and other leaders for “wanton acts of violence” in Guwahati by allegedly instigating a crowd to launch an attack on the personnel.
“I gave a speech against (Narendra) Modi’s special friend (Gautam) Adani and a case was filed against me. Then they threw me out of Parliament and took away my government residence. I gave the keys myself, I don’t want it.
“My home is in the heart of every Indian citizen, I live there. I have lakhs of houses in Assam, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and all other states”, Gandhi said amid huge applause from the public.
Addressing another rally in Dhubri district, he claimed BJP and Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF are partners in the Northeastern state and they are two sides of the same coin.
“In Assam, Congress is fighting BJP against BJP and its B team Ajmal. We cannot compromise with any of the two — BJP and AIUDF. We will defeat BJP in Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. And for that, we need to defeat its B team Ajmal too,” he added.
Gandhi claimed that Ajmal works as per instructions by Sarma and help each other in the elections.
He also claimed that Sharma is “remote-controlled” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
He also said that the chief minister will be “thrown out” if he spoke for the welfare of Assam.
“Tarun Gogoi was also a CM, but he did what Assam wanted,” Gandhi said referring to a former Congress chief minister of the state, in whose cabinet Sarma was a minister before he joined BJP.
Meanwhile, in a letter to Shah on Tuesday night, Kharge said there have been several instances in which the Assam Police has been found wanting in providing adequate security to Gandhi, who is entitled to Z+ security.
The Congress chief listed out a series of incidents taking place since the Yatra entered Assam on January 18 and alleged that the Assam Police did nothing to stop the attacks on the march and party leaders, many of whom were injured.
“… the Assam Police has systematically stood by and/or allowed BJP workers to come closer and closer to the convoy of Rahul Gandhi, breaching his security cordon, and endangering his physical security and that of his team,” Kharge’s letter read.
Stating none of the miscreants involved in the case was arrested, Kharge urged Shah to ensure that no such untoward incident takes place again.
The Assam Chief Minister announced that an SIT will be formed to probe into the case registered on Tuesday by Guwahati Police for allegedly instigating the crowd to break barricades and attack the personnel on duty when the march was trying to move to a different route in the state capital.
“We will carry out the arrests after the Lok Sabha polls. If we do it now, it will be politicised. We are anyhow winning the elections. We just want peace in our state,” he added.
Addressing a press conference at North Salmara in Assam, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh termed the police case as a “political FIR” without any factual basis.
The Congress party will explore legal options due to course of time to handle the FIR.
The FIR was filed against Congress leaders under IPC sections that deal with criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, rioting, assault or criminal force to deter public servants from discharging their duty, damaging public property and others.
Ramesh also thanked Sarma in getting the march “full publicity” through his statements, tweets and threats given to the Yatra and its leaders.
During the day, 100 intellectuals and prominent citizens of Assam from diverse fields criticised the Assam government for allegedly creating obstacles with the Yatra.
The Assam leg of the march started on January 18 will continue till January 25 when it will enter West Bengal.
The Yatra plans to cover 6,713 km in 67 days while passing through 110 districts in 15 states. (PTI)
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