Himanta Warns Rahul Gandhi of Arrest As Chaos Erupts At Congress Rally In Assam

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi instigated a crowd to target security personnel and warned him of arrest after this summer’s national elections — a fresh escalation that comes in the backdrop of a series of allegations and counter-allegations between the rival leaders over a politically sensitive rally.

“Our security personnel serve the people, and not any royal family,” Sarma said on X (formerly Twitter), a reference to the Gandhi family. His post had an accompanying video of Gandhi and another Congress leader purportedly provoking a crowd.

Separately, Sarma said Gandhi will be arrested after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections “for instigating violence and disobedience in Guwahati”, where Congress supporters squared off with the police and removed security barricades on Tuesday. His comments came just hours after Sarma shared he had instructed the police to initiate action against Gandhi — who, for his part, accused the Assam government of thwarting his rally.

Tensions flared on Tuesday after Congress workers jostled with the police and accused the state machinery of not allowing their rally to enter Guwahati on flimsy grounds. The Assam Police had given permission to the Congress’s flagship “Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra” — spearheaded by Gandhi — on a highway circling the city, but did not allow the rally to enter the inner arterial roads fearing traffic snarls on a weekday. Dramatic footage of Tuesday’s scuffle was beamed on TV channels and all over the social media.

Gandhi took the opportunity to launch an attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led governments at the Centre and in Assam, accusing Sarma of posing hurdles to his campaign and calling him “corrupt”. He addressed a crowd from the roof of his vehicle on the Assam-Meghalaya border, exhorting Congress workers to realise their strength and warning students that they are being turned into “slaves”.

Later, at a press conference, Gandhi said the obstacles faced by his “Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra” were a blessing in disguise — and, in fact, was giving publicity to the Congress rally. “We don’t get intimidated…We are not afraid of them,” Gandhi said in Guwahati, adding that the rally had become the “main issue” in Assam. “Our message of justice is going to every village,” he added, and called Sarma “one of the most corrupt chief ministers” in the country. Gandhi also alleged that people were complaining to him about price rise, unemployment and corruption everywhere he went.

Last week too, Gandhi had launched a similar attack on Sarma. In his comeback, the Chief Minister had termed the Gandhi family “the most corrupt” one in the country.

GP Singh, the Assam Director General Of Police, shared on X that trouble started on Tuesday after “participants of the road event insisted on changing the route that would have thrown city life out of gear” and also jeopardise the security of a Z+ category protectee (Rahul Gandhi).

The Congress event was to travel from Meghalaya towards Kamrup through Guwahati — and “permission was given to use” one one of the two major roads there, the post said.

After being advised to stick to the original plan, “the participants of road event, at the instigation of senior leaders tried to force their way by changing the route”, breaking down “some of the barricades causing injury to some policemen and general public,” the post said. It added that the Guwahati Police “used persuasion to turn the event back to allotted route”. The DGP also vowed “appropriate lawful action” against “leaders and participants who instigated, led and participated in unlawful activities”.