Police to act against Cong leaders if speeches found provocative: Sarma

In strong remarks on Friday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the state police would not hesitate to act against top Congress leaders if they found evidence that their remarks had provoked clashes in Assam.The CM hinted that recent speeches by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi in the state were sympathetic towards encroachers and had “encouraged and emboldened” the violators, who allegedly attacked the security forces in the Paikan Reserve Forest in Goalpara on Thursday.

The clashes had led to one civilian’s death and left 10 people, including police personnel, injured.

Kharge and Rahul were in Assam on Wednesday for a closed-door strategy meeting with the state party leaders. They later addressed party workers at Chaygaon, 40 km from Guwahati.

Sarma, who himself is a former Congressman, stated that Kharge and Gandhi visiting Assam was not the issue. “But they openly encouraged encroachers and ‘land jihadis’ to usurp government land,” the CM said.

Flagging Kharge’s remarks that the Congress would rehabilitate evicted people, Sarma said, “People are emboldened because of such statements. Those who have been evicted started hurling stones and beating cops with batons and other weapons.”

The CM said a case had been registered and the police would examine their speeches to see if these provoked violence.

“If we see anything in the remarks that invite penal action, the police will not hesitate to take action against them,” said the Sarma, who handles the Home portfolio.

As Assam is slated to go to polls in 2026, with the Congress hoping to defeat the ruling BJP. The Congress recently appointed Gaurav Gogoi, the son of late CM Tarun Gogoi as its state chief in Assam. The Sarma-Gogoi rivalry in the state goes back to the times when both were in Congress and Sarma was Tarun Gogoi’s mentee.

Sarma quit the Congress in August 2015 and was quickly appointed the convenor of North-East Democratic Alliance. He is widely credited with the BJP’s electoral sweep of the N-E thereafter.

‘BIG qustion is when will Rahul be in jail’

After Rahul Gandhi said Sarma would be put in jail by the people for corruption, Sarma hit back on Friday, saying, “The big question is whether Rahul Gandhi will be in jail and when. The ED has seized many properties of Robert Vadra. There are many jails in India, waiting for the Gandhis.”

India