Rahul Gandhi Denied Entry Into Assam Shrine, Stages Sit-In

New Delhi: 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 was quoted as saying, “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.