Assam records 10.12 per cent voting in initial hours
Voting is underway in four seats namely Dhubri, Barpeta, Kokrajhar and Guwahati.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking his intervention in ensuring adequate security is provided to Rahul Gandhi and his team during the Assam leg of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
In the letter, Kharge mentioned several instances when Assam police allegedly failed to ensure adequate security to Rahul Gandhi, who is entitled to a Z+ security cover.
“In all of the troubling events mentioned above, the Assam Police has systematically stood by and/or allowed BJP workers to come closer and closer to the convoy of Shri. Rahul Gandhi, breaching his security cordon, and endangering his physical security and that of his team,” Kharge wrote.
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The Congress president feared that “the risk” associated with Gandhi’s security will increase as the yatra proceeds and demanded Shah’s intervention to ensure that no untoward incident takes place.
“As the risk increases and as the Yatra proceeds as planned, we request your intervention to ensure that the Chief Minister of Assam and the Director General of Police, Assam ensure that no such untoward incident takes place which may lead to grave personal injury to Shri. Rahul Gandhi or any members of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra,” he added.
Kharge’s letter to the home minister comes a day after a bitter face-off took place between Congress workers and Assam police personnel after Gandhi’s yatra was stopped from entering Guwahati.
The Congress workers tried to broke through the security barricades placed near the Guwahati border by Assam police to prevent the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from entering the city.
Following the incident, a case has been registered against Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Kanhaiya Kumar and some other Congress leaders on directions from Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Earlier, some BJP workers allegedly stopped Rahul Gandhi’s convoy and attacked Congress leaders. Before this, posters and banners of his Yatra were torn down by some miscreants and Congress alleged BJP was behind this.
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