Sarma Calls Rahul Gandhi’s Yatra ‘Media Gimmick’; Assam to Form SIT to Probe ‘Batadrava Than’ Row – News18

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday rained down on Rahul Gandhi over the controversy surrounding his visit to the Batadrava Than on January 22. Sarma said the state government will set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident.

Rahul Gandhi was stopped at Haibargaon en route to the Batadrava Than (Sankardeva’s birthplace) in Assam on the day of ‘pran pratishtha’ of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya on January 22.

While Rahul Gandhi had, at the time, said that Sankardeva was like a “guru to us” therefore he sought to offer his respects at Batadrava Than during his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, Assam CM Sarma questioned why did the Congress leader not stop to pay homage at various other places of religious and historical importance en route.

“Why did Rahul Gandhi not stop to pay homage in Bhupen Hazarika Samadhi, visit Powa Mecca shrine, Haigriva Madhav Mandir. If he is a believer of religion, why did he not visit Kamakhya temple enroute the yatra of Assam but created such a ‘hulla bolo’ on not been able to enter Batadrava Than, the birth place of Saint Srimanta Sankaradev. Its merely a gimmick to get media attraction,” the Assam CM said.

Sarma further called the Yatra Congress party’s efforts to jeopardise the peace in Assam, adding that they will arrest Rahul Gandhi after the Lok Sabha polls 2024.

“We will form an SIT to investigate the case and we shall arrest him after the Lok Sabha elections are over. If we take action now, they will call it a political move, but their main motive was time disrupt peace in Assam. We have proof, yesterday a major incident could have happened in Guwahati by the way he provoked people,” Sarma said.

Rahul Gandhi was stopped at Haibargaon en route to the sattra (Sankardeva’s birthplace), after which, he along with senior Congress leaders and supporters had staged a dharna.

The managing committee of the Sri Sankardeva Sattra, had, on Sunday, announced that they will not allow the Congress leader to visit the sattra before 3:00 pm on January 22 given thousands of people would be visiting the place on the day of ‘pran pratishtha’ ceremony in Ayodhya. Assam CM Sarma had also advised Gandhi to not visit the place before 3:00 pm citing the law and order situation.

On Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma ordering State Police to register a case against Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal was quoted by ANI as saying, “This is like old Maharaja rule…If there is a law & order situation, it is the duty of the Police to register an FIR. It is not the duty of the CM to ask the Police to file an FIR against an individual. This is clearly a political conspiracy. CM has become the Director General of Police…These tactics to intimidate & threaten Congress party is not going to succeed at all…”