New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday said Rahul Gahdi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra has been denied permission to pass through Guwahati, news agency PTI reported.
The Congress’s mega outreach campaign is scheduled to reach Kamrup (Metropolitan) district on January 23.
“We had applied for permission for a roadshow and padayatra through a definite route in Guwahati. But it has been refused,” Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Debabrata Saikia told PTI.
The Congress leader further claimed that they wrote to the police seeking permission for the march on January 12. A follow-up email was also sent on January 19 and on Saturday morning.
“As we did not get any response even after several hours of my email, I called the deputy commissioner of Guwahati police who is in charge of granting permissions. He informed me over the phone that our request had been denied. The written intimation will be made available on Sunday as the top officials were busy with the union home minister’s visit today,” Saikia told the news agency.
According to Saikia, Congress has been asked to take the procession through the Khanapara-Jayanagar-Basistha-Gorchuk-Lohkra route, which is the National Highway 27 East-West, PTI reported.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Jairam Ramesh also took to X about the denial of permission.
“The Assam CM continues to deny permission to the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ to enter Guwahati on January 23rd. He is also refusing permission to @RahulGandhi to interact with the media at the Guwahati Press Club at the Club’s invitation. Clearly the Assam CM is very nervous and shaken by the tremendous response to the Yatra in Assam so far,” he wrote.
However, Guwahati Police Commissioner Diganta Barah said the Congress’s request was “under consideration”.