Two days after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had purportedly used a “body double” during the Assam leg of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, the CM on Saturday said that he will soon share the name and address of the “body double”.
“I don’t just say things. The duplicate’s name, and how it was done — I will share all details. Just wait for a few days,” Sarma said on Saturday in Sonitpur district on the sidelines of a programme, when asked by reporters about the allegation against Gandhi.
“I will be in Dibrugarh tomorrow (Sunday), and the next day also I will be out of Guwahati. Once I am back in Guwahati, I will give the name and address of the duplicate,” he said, as quoted by PTI.
On Thursday, Sarma had at a press conference alleged that Rahul Gandhi was using a “body double” during the Yatra, when it was in Assam. He quoted a news report claiming that the person sitting and waving at people from the Yatra bus was “probably not Rahul Gandhi at all”.
Gandhi travelled through Assam from January 18 to 25, during which he alleged that Sarma was the “most corrupt CM of India”.
The Congress also alleged denial or problems in route permissions for the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra through the state by the BJP-led government. The situation reached a flashpoint when Congress leaders and workers broke police barricades erected to prevent them from entering the main city limits of Guwahati. Several people were injured in the incident, including state Congress chief Bhupen Borah.
Later, an FIR was registered against Gandhi and others over the incident under several IPC sections, including those dealing with criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, and rioting.
“With reference to wanton acts of violence, provocation, damage to public property and assault on police personnel today by Congress members, an FIR has been registered against Rahul Gandhi, K C Venugopal, Kanhaiya Kumar and other individuals,” Sarma had said in a post on X.
The CM later stated that Gandhi would be arrested after the Lok Sabha elections as didn’t want to “politicise” the issue before the elections.
Speaking of Lok Sabha poll prospects of BJP and its allies, the CM asserted that the alliance has 11-and-a-half seats surely.
“We have 11-and-a-half assured seats. We are working on how to convert it into 12. We are not bothered about any Congress list (of candidates).”
There are 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam. Of those, nine are currently held by the BJP, three by Congress, one by AIUDF and one Independent.