Congress leaders and workers on Tuesday forcefully removed the barricades put up by the administration to prevent the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from entering Guwahati as a “mark of protest”, prompting Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to direct the police to register a case against the Congress MP for “provoking” the crowd against the cops.

Later at night, Sarma tweeted that an FIR had been registered against Rahul and Congress leaders K.C. Venugopal and Kanhaiya Kumar for "wanton acts of violence, provocation, damage to public property and assault on police personnel".

The Congress leaders prevented the situation from getting out of hand by reverting to the officially assigned Yatra route. The police, too, exercised restraint to avert an escalation of the situation.

Going by the videos shared by the Congress, the fracas reflected the growing bitterness between the ruling BJP and the Opposition since the Yatra started its Assam leg on January 18. A few Congressmen and cops were hurt in the fracas and traffic on the busy NH37 was disrupted for close to an hour.

Several Congress leaders told The Telegraph that they forcefully removed the barricades not to enter the city but to register their protest against the hurdles the BJP-led government had put up to derail the peaceful Yatra.

The roadblocks included the denial of permission for grounds, padyatras and a visit to Batadrava Than, attacks on Congress leaders and supporters and intentionally organising government events linked to welfare schemes in districts through which the Yatra was scheduled to pass, the Congress said.

Responding to the allegations, a BJP leader said the chief minister had already said he would not allow the Yatra through the city as it would lead to traffic disruptions.

“Today, the Congressmen broke the barricades and created a law and order situation. Policemen had to retaliate in which a few Congressmen and policemen were injured. Moreover, Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to visit Batadrava Than because the management committee wanted him to visit after 3pm, expecting a rush of devotees on the occasion of the Ram temple inauguration in Ayodhya on Monday. The attacks, we have heard, have been carried out by former Congressmen.”

The BJP leader added: “Permission to use college and school fields during the Yatra was denied because the institutions are open. Government events are pre-decided, not fixed overnight. They are doing all this to garner political mileage.”

Both camps have engaged in personal attacks, with Rahul repeatedly accusing Sarma of being the most corrupt chief minister of the country and the BJP leader responding by accusing the Gandhi family of being the most corrupt in India.

Congressmen maintain that Sarma had been at his “provocative best” even before the Yatra entered the state. “Yes, the bitterness is growing but we are not to be blamed. Our people are also hurt by the treatment dished out to us. There were no problems in other states before entering Assam. Why?” a Congress leader said.

After the forceful removal of the barricades on Tuesday, Sarma posted on X: “These are not part of Assamese culture. We are a peaceful state. Such ‘Naxalite tactics’ are completely alien to our culture. I have instructed @DGPAssamPolice to register a case against your leader @RahulGandhi for provoking the crowd & use the footage you have posted on your handles as the evidence. Your unruly behaviour and violation of agreed guidelines have resulted in a massive traffic jam in Guwahati now.”

‘Intimidation’

Addressing the gathering from his bus top at the site of the fracas, Rahul said they had broken the barricades “but will not break the law”, reiterating that rallies of BJP president J.P. Nadda and the Bajrang Dal had been allowed to take the same route.

He said the Congress did not fear anybody and would defeat the BJP-RSS in Assam.

Praising the policemen on duty for doing their job, he said the Congress was not against them but against the “most corrupt chief minister” of the country.

At a media interaction held later at Hajo, about 40km from the city, before the Yatra proceeded to Barpeta in Lower Assam, Rahul said Sarma’s actions against the Yatra were eventually benefitting it.

“The publicity we are getting we would not have got otherwise. By doing this (putting up hurdles), the Assam chief minister and Union home minister Amit Shah are helping us. The Yatra has now become the main issue in Assam... by stopping me from going to the mandir (Batadrava Than), by stopping me from going to a college (USTM), stopping the padyatra. This is their style. Intimidation tactics. We don’t get intimidated. We are not scared of them. Our message of Nyay is reaching the people...”

He said there was “massive unemployment, massive corruption, massive price rise, farmers are struggling and no youth can get a job in this state. These are the issues we are raising and we are being very successful at it”.