Guwahati: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is in Assam as part of his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra‘, claimed on Monday that he was not allowed to visit Batadrava Than, the birthplace of Saint Srimanta Sankardeva, a social reformer of Assam.
Meanwhile, authorities said that they had permitted the local MP and MLA to visit the temple after 3 pm and it was communicated to the Congress leader on Sunday (January 21).
The Congress leader was scheduled to visit Bordowa Satra in the Nagaon district of the state and alleged he was denied entry despite holding permission for the same.
Following the alleged denial, Rahul Gandhi, along with the workers of the Congress party, staged a sit-in in Nagaon.
In a video shared by PTI, Rahul Gandhi was seen questioning a security official about the reason for being stopped.
He also said, “It seems that today only one person has the authority to go to the temple. I am here just to fold my hands in prayer.”
Commenting on the development, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “Rahul Gandhi wanted to go there. We had been trying since January 11 and two of our MLAs met the Management for the same. We said that we would come there at 7 am on 22nd January. We were told that we would be welcome. But yesterday, we were suddenly told that we can’t come there until 3 pm.”
In a letter to Batadrava MLA Sibamoni Borah, the Batadrava Than management has stated that “Rahul Gandhi will not be allowed to enter the premises of the Than prior to 3 pm” on January 22.
The Batadrava Than management has cited several programmes lined up in and around the place on the occasion of Ram Temple’s inauguration as the reason for forbidding Rahul Gandhi’s entry.
Assam Congress MP Pradyot Bordoloi has taken a strong exception towards the move by the Batadrava Than management.
He said: “The Batadrowa Than Management Committee under pressure from the BJP government in Assam has forbidden Rahul Gandhi to pay a visit on January 22 to the revered birthplace of great social reformer Srimanta Sankardev who shaped an inclusive and egalitarian Assamese society.”
Earlier on January 20, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had announced that while, the entire BJP party including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will attend the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, most of the senior Congress leadership, including Rahul Gandhi will visit the Bordowa ‘Batadrava’ Than in Nagaon district of Assam.
“On January 22, Rahul Gandhi will be in Bordowa Xatra of Nagaon and pay tribute to Sri Sri Shankardev ji,” said Jairam Ramesh.
It may be mentioned here that Bordowa is the birthplace of Srimanta Sankadev.
Srimanta Sankadev was a 15th– 16th-century Assamese polymath; a saint-scholar, poet, playwright, dancer, actor, musician, artist social-religious reformer and a figure of importance in the cultural and religious history of Assam.