Rahul Gandhi’s sit-in protest after being denied entry into famous Assam shrine

Rahul Gandhi, along with other Congress workers, on Monday staged a sit-in in Assam’s Nagaon, after he alleged.

That he was not allowed to visit Batadrava Than, the birthplace of saint Srimanta Sankardeva, a social reformer of the state. According to news agency PTI, barring a local MP and MLA, no Congress leader was allowed to travel beyond Haiboragaon, around 20 km from the temple spot.

The Congress leader was scheduled to pay obeisance to the local deity before starting his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on Monday. He also claimed he was denied entry despite holding permission for the same.

In a video, Rahul Gandhi was seen questioning a security official about the reason for being stopped.

Commenting on the development, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh today said, “Rahul Gandhi wanted to go there. We had been trying since January 11 and two of our MLAs met the Management for the same.”

“We said that we would come there at 7 am on 22nd January. We were told that we would be welcome. But yesterday, we were suddenly told that we can’t come there until 3 pm,” Ramesh said.

“This is the pressure from the state government. We will try to go there but going there after 3 pm is very difficult as we would have to cover additional distance,” the senior Congress leader told reporters.

On Sunday, the Batadrava Than’s management committee had said Rahul Gandhi would be allowed to enter the premises on Monday after 3 pm.

“Tomorrow is the Pranpratishtha of Ram Temple and many devotees will come to the Than. Apart from this, many programmes have been organised outside the Than premises where thousands of devotees will gather. For that reason, Rahul Gandhi’s visit programme will be after 3 pm and it has been decided in the meeting,” a statement by the committee read.

As political temperatures soared in the state on Sunday – the eve of the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, Congress alleged that its leaders were “attacked” during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra by BJP supporters, with Rahul Gandhi, who was heckled by a crowd chanting “Jai Shri Ram” and “Modi, Modi” slogans, asserting that his party is neither scared of the prime minister nor the Assam chief minister.

The same day, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said Rahul Gandhi should avoid visiting the birthplace of Srimanta Sankardeva at Batadrava on January 22 (today), as there can be no competition between Lord Ram and the medieval age Vaishnav saint revered as an icon in the state.

Sarma also said that commandos will be deployed along sensitive routes of minority-dominated areas to be taken by Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on Monday, the day of the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.