'Today Only One Person...': Rahul Gandhi On Being Stopped From Entering Batadrava Than in Assam

Amid celebrations across the country on the much-awaited occasion of ‘pran pratishtha’ at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said only one person can visit the temple, in a veiled dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Gandhi, after being stopped at Haibargaon en route to the sattra (Sankardeva’s birthplace) in Assam, said, “Aaj sirf ek vyakti mandir ja sakta hai (today only one person can visit temple).”

During a law and order crisis, everyone can visit the birthplace of Vaishnav saint Srimanta Sankardeva, only ‘Rahul Gandhi cannot go’, the Congress leader said in Assam’s Nagaon on Monday.

“He is like a guru to us and gives us direction. So I had thought when I came to Assam, I should offer my respects to him,” Rahul Gandhi said, adding that they had received an invitation on January 11. However, on January 21, “we were told that there is a law and order situation” he added.

“This is strange as there is a law and order situation in the area, but Gaurav Gogoi and all can go but only Rahul Gandhi cannot go’. There may be some reason but I will go to Batadrava when I get an opportunity. It is my belief that both Assam and the entire nation should follow the path shown by Sankardeva,” the Congress leader further said.

Taking to microblogging site X, Gandhi wrote, “Shankar Dev ji wove the cultural diversity of India into the thread of unity through devotion, but today I was prevented from bowing my head at his place. I bowed to the Lord from outside the temple and took His blessings. We will carry forward this struggle for dignity against unlimited power.”

Gandhi was stopped at Haibargaon en route to the sattra (Sankardeva’s birthplace), after which, he along with senior Congress leaders and supporters staged a dharna while party MP Gaurav Gogoi and Batadrava MLA Sibamoni Bora proceeded to the birthplace to resolve the issue.

Gandhi and other party leaders including Jairam Ramesh started singing ‘Rahupati Raghav Raja Ram’ while sitting on ‘dharna’.

According to a PTI report, the managing committee of the Sri Sankardeva Sattra, had, on Sunday, announced that they will not allow the Congress leader to visit the sattra before 3:00 pm on January 22.

The announcement had come after Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had, earlier in the day stated at a press conference that he had requested Rahul Gandhi not to visit the sattra before the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh weighed in and said the authorities had told Gandhi that there could be a law and order problem and when he (Gandhi) offered to go alone, the request was turned down.

“It is clear that it is their deliberate policy to prevent him from going to the holy place which occupies a place of social, cultural and religious importance for all”, Ramesh said.

(With PTI inputs)