Did not face anywhere so many difficulties as in Assam: Ramesh on Cong Yatra

PTI, Jan 19, 2024, 4:52 PM IST

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Friday claimed that the party’s first Bharat Jodo Yatra from south to north had not faced as many problems while passing through BJP-ruled states as the second one is encountering in Assam.

Wondering why Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was ‘afraid’ of the Congress, Ramesh asserted that no power can prevent the ongoing ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ from proceeding with its scheduled itinerary in Assam.

”The first Bharat Jodo Yatra did not face so many difficulties even when passing through BJP-ruled states,” Ramesh said at a press conference here as the ongoing march entered its second day in Assam.

The first ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ was taken out in 2022-23 from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi at the fore. The ongoing Yatra, again being led by Gandhi, commenced from Manipur on January 14 and will culminate in Mumbai on March 20.

”The amount of difficulties we have faced in Assam in these two days, we have not faced anywhere,” Ramesh claimed.

He pointed out that the first Yatra had crossed then BJP-ruled states Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, and the Congress had criticised the chief ministers and governments there.

”But it is for the first time that within 24 hours, the CM has been rattled. We are being threatened with FIR and imprisonment. People are being prevented from joining the Yatra,” he claimed.

An FIR has been lodged in Jorhat on Thursday against the Yatra and its chief organiser KB Byju for the entourage allegedly deviating from permitted routes in Jorhat town.

The chief minister has also warned of arresting two ”bad elements” participating in the rally after the Lok Sabha elections if it reaches the state’s largest city Guwahati without permission. He, however, did not divulge the identity of his ”targets”.

Ramesh asserted that ‘no power’ can prevent the Yatra from completing its next six days of scheduled programmes in Assam, with the journey to continue through the state till January 25, travelling a total of 833 km across 17 districts.

He said the Yatra will be entering Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday and resume in Assam the next day with a public rally at Kaliabor on Sunday, which will also be attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

”The Yatra will then move through Assam till January 25,” Ramesh added.

He also questioned how the chief of banned ULFA(I) gives interviews to a television news channel owned by the chief minister’s wife.

”Everyone knows the relation ULFA chief Paresh Barua has with China. We can question this and many more things like these. Don’t threaten the Yatra,” the senior Congress leader added.

He also accused the CM of giving the Yatra a communal colour and maintained that it goes on to show the latter’s mentality.

He claimed that rattled by the people’s response, Sarma is trying to derail the Yatra.

”Bhoi nokoriba, Himanta (don’t be afraid, Himanta). I want to ask him what it is he is so afraid of?” he said. ”The CM gets agitated and frightened whenever Congress or Rahul Gandhi is mentioned. He loses his mental balance and starts speaking ‘bekare ke ciz’ (makes idiotic comments),” he said.

”In Assam politics, this Yatra has made a huge difference in two days itself. Youth, women, senior citizens, all sections of people cutting across religions, castes, languages are welcoming the Yatra,” he claimed.

Earlier in the day, Ramesh had come down on Sarma, who had quit Congress to join the BJP in 2015, on the X, formerly Twitter.

”It is abundantly clear that the Assam CM is rattled and is nervous by the tremendous response being received by the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra over the past 2 days in Assam,” he wrote.

”The Assam CM can abuse and defame, he can threaten and intimidate, but we are not afraid. He is obviously disturbed by the huge impact of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which will continue in Assam for another 6 days in spite of his continuing efforts to derail it,” he added.

Along with the post, he also shared Sarma’s comment that Congress is representing one section of Muslims, and that even Muslim women don’t come to Congress rallies due to the progress they made under the BJP-led government in the state.

Sarma had made the comment on Thursday while speaking to the press.