Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra was disrupted on January 22, when the Assam Police prevented him from visiting Batadrava Than, a shrine and birthplace of 15th-16th century saint-reformer Srimanta Sankaradeva who propagated a neo-Vaishnav sect. Besides, he was also prevented from holding a meeting in the State’s Morigaon district, citing law and order concerns.
The yatra later entered entered Meghalaya where Mr. Gandhi addressed a rally.
High drama prevailed on the ninth day of the yatra that began from Manipur on January 14, when Mr. Gandhi and his supporters were stopped by the police in Assam’s Nagaon district, on the way to Batadrava Than. A video showed police personnel blocking Mr. Gandhi’s path and he was heard asking them why he was not being allowed into the shrine. “I was invited there on 11th [January]. I think they have been pressurised... They have been obviously ordered from the top. They don’t want me to go,” he said.
