Donning a ‘No CAA’ Gamosa, Rahul Kicks off Cong Campaign in Assam

“No power in the world can break Assam,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in a rally in Assam.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi kicked off the party’s campaign in Assam ahead of the upcoming state elections.

(Photo: Twitter/@INCIndia)

"No power in the world can break Assam," Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said as he kicked off the party's campaign, on Sunday, 14 February, for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.

Addressing a public meeting in Sivasagar, donning a traditional ‘gamosa’ with ‘No CAA’ written on it, Gandhi said, "Congress party and the people of Assam together will teach a lesson to whoever will try to touch the Assam Accord or spread hatred."

“I’m wearing a gamosa that has ‘no CAA’ written on it, meaning no matter what happens, we won’t allow the CAA process here,” he said.

At the rally, Gandhi was flanked by local Congress leaders such as Akhil Gogoi and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, all of whom observed a two-minute long silence to pay tributes to the farmers who died in the ongoing protest against the Centre's three farm laws.

“For outsiders Assam comes of as a very complex state. There are different religions, communities and languages. In my all my previous visits, the late Congress leader Tarun Gogoi would impart me with knowledge about Assam's culture and I'd go back feeling that I have understood a newer side of Assam," Gandhi said.

Speaking of the Centre’s NRC-CAA processes that faced mass protests in 2019, Gandhi said, “I am upset at how the government has insulted Tarun Gogoi’s work towards uniting Assam, and the people of Assam. I am giving you my word that all Congress members will protect the Assam Accord.”

Assam was under Congress-led Tarun Gogoi’s rule for more than a decade until in 2016, he lost the state elections to BJP’s Sarbananda Sonowal.

“If the state gets divided, then BJP-RSS won't get affected, neither will PM Modi or the Chief Minister of Assam. It is the people of Assam who will get affected and thereby India will be impacted. The country needs its people as much as its people need the country,” he said.

“From whom do they want to save Assam? If they want to save Assam, then, let them take a stand against the immigrant Muslims and say that we will protect Assam's culture” said Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Congress' 'Assam Bachao Yatra'.

Although the Election Commission hasn’t formally announced any dates, elections for the 126-seat in Assam legislative assembly is likely to be held around April-May this year.