GUWAHATI: After crossing Nagaon and Morigaon, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra (BJNY) reached Jorabat in Meghalaya on Monday, where he handed over the Yatra Flag to Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC).
The Yatra moving on will now move through Guwahati today.
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The Yatra will pass through the Basistha-Jalukbari Road to Secha near Hajo and then reach Chenga in Barpeta passing through Kalitakuchi.
The Yatra’ has been denied permission to pass through Guwahati, though the police maintained that the request was ‘under consideration’.
“We had applied for permission for a roadshow and padayatra through a definite route in Guwahati. But it has been refused,” Assam Congress senior spokesperson Mehdi Alam Borah said.
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“The application, seeking permission for the march, was submitted to the police on January 12 and again on January 19, with a follow-up email on January 20,” Borah said.
“The deputy commissioner of Guwahati police who is in charge of granting permissions informed us that our request had been denied,” he added.
The Yatra will have a night halt at Bishnupur in Chenga on Tuesday.
Addressing a rally Rahul Gandhi said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had called the state’s government the ‘most corrupt’ in the nation before partnering with them.
“There is an illegal coal transport scam as well as the Assembly Dome collapse scam,” Rahul said.
“The structures to protect your land, the Adivasis, locals and forests have been uprooted,” Rahul added, highlighting that the state’s languages were not in the 8th schedule.
“All the work we did in decentralising power and giving power to the people of Meghalaya is being reversed slowly,” he said.
Gandhi explained the reason why the Yatra was started in Manipur and said the ideology of the RSS and BJP has destroyed the idea of Manipur! That’s why we wanted to send a message to the rest of India about the pain the people of Manipur are feeling.”
“It’s astonishing to me that the PM of India hasn’t visited Manipur yet. Is Manipur, not an Indian state? Are the people of Manipur not part of India? If the PM wants to stop the violence in Manipur, he can do it in three days. The truth is, he is not interested in putting an end to the violence in Manipur,” Gandhi added.
After the public meeting, Rahul Gandhi proceeded towards Byrnihat where he halted for the Night.
Gandhi was also supposed to address a meeting at USTM on Tuesday before resuming the Yatra to Guwahati.
However, the permission to do so was denied by the Deputy Commissioner of Ri Bhoi.