Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Friday claimed that a “body double” used by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi “cheered the crowd” for the most part of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, whose identity he would reveal after Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed his two-day visit to the state.
Modi, who is set to arrive in Assam Saturday, will unveil and lay the foundation stone for various developmental projects worth more than Rs 11,000 crore over the weekend.
Sarma said a media house had uploaded the photograph of Rahul’s alleged body double, who “cheered the crowd for most part during the yatra” in the state.
“We have identified the body-double used by Rahul Gandhi during the yatra. Once the prime minister goes back from Assam, I will hold a press conference on that,” Sarma told reporters at Dispur.
He further said the body double quietly left Guwahati after the controversy came to light. He went to Delhi from Guwahati, the chief minister said, abandoning Rahul Gandhi for the last leg of the yatra in the state.
ThePrint reached the state Congress leadership for comment via phone calls. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
Sarma hinted last Thursday that the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi used a doppelganger during his second outreach programme that is traversing the country from the east to the west. The yatra, which is being undertaken mostly by bus, began in Imphal on 14 January and will end in Mumbai on 20 March.
Also read: Assam CM Himanta directs DGP to book Rahul for ‘provoking crowd’ during Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra
Speaking to reporters in Guwahati on 25 January, Sarma had brought up this social media post, and said the person seated in the front seat of Rahul Gandhi’s yatra bus was not the Congress leader.
“He is using a body double. That is the question a channel posed,” the chief minister said, adding the man apparently did not look like the Congress MP from close quarters.
“I have not seen it though. Congress workers told me Gandhi spends most of his time in an alcove further into the bus. Who is sitting in front then?” he asked.
Two cases have already been registered in Assam in relation to the yatra. An FIR was lodged against Rahul in connection with the violence in Guwahati when alleged Congress supporters broke through police barricades. The other case was registered in Jorhat.
While a special investigation team (SIT) is probing the Guwahati case, the Jorhat matter is being investigated “in a normal way”, Sarma told reporters Friday.
He has earlier said Rahul Gandhi would be arrested after the Lok Sabha elections.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)