Rahul Yatra Assam leg hiccups continue, shrine out of bounds, concerns along route

Impeded by barricades and stopped by the police, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had to forego his plan to visit the Batadrava Than in Assam on Monday morning as part of his ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

After spending the night at a camp in Rupahi in Assam’s Nagaon district, the Yatra convoy began moving towards the Batadrava Than located around 26 km away at 8.25 am. The Congress had announced earlier that its Yatra schedule for January 22 would include a morning visit to the than in Nagaon district – the birthplace of revered Vaishnavite reformer-saint Srimanta Sankardeva, and one of the most sacred sites for Assamese Vaishnavites. However, en route, the convoy was met with police personnel behind barricades blocking the road at Haibargaon.

Rahul, along with several other leaders including Jairam Ramesh, Supriya Shrinate, Gaurav Gogoi, Srinivas B V, Kanhaiya Kumar, Yogendra Yadav and Jitendra Singh Alwar, got off their vehicles when the convoy was stopped.

It eventually remained stuck at the barricades for over two hours. While some local party supporters joined the yatris, Rahul sat down on road surrounded by supporters singing the bhajan ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram’ in chorus.

“What have I done that I can’t visit the temple?” Rahul asked the police personnel at the barricades.

Incidentally, on Sunday, the president of the Than management committee had alerted the Congress MLA from Batadrava constituency, Sibamoni Bora, that Rahul would not be permitted to enter the premises before 3 pm on Monday, stating that thousands of people were expected to gather at the temple in the morning to mark the consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, while addressing the media in Guwahati, had also suggested