Impeded by barricades and stopped by the police, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had to forego his plan to visit the Batadrava Than in Assam on Monday morning as part of his ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

After spending the night at a camp in Rupahi in Assam’s Nagaon district, the Yatra convoy began moving towards the Batadrava Than located around 26 km away at 8.25 am. The Congress had announced earlier that its Yatra schedule for January 22 would include a morning visit to the than in Nagaon district – the birthplace of revered Vaishnavite reformer-saint Srimanta Sankardeva, and one of the most sacred sites for Assamese Vaishnavites. However, en route, the convoy was met with police personnel behind barricades blocking the road at Haibargaon.

Rahul, along with several other leaders including Jairam Ramesh, Supriya Shrinate, Gaurav Gogoi, Srinivas B V, Kanhaiya Kumar, Yogendra Yadav and Jitendra Singh Alwar, got off their vehicles when the convoy was stopped.

It eventually remained stuck at the barricades for over two hours. While some local party supporters joined the yatris, Rahul sat down on road surrounded by supporters singing the bhajan ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram’ in chorus.

“What have I done that I can’t visit the temple?” Rahul asked the police personnel at the barricades.

Incidentally, on Sunday, the president of the Than management committee had alerted the Congress MLA from Batadrava constituency, Sibamoni Bora, that Rahul would not be permitted to enter the premises before 3 pm on Monday, stating that thousands of people were expected to gather at the temple in the morning to mark the consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, while addressing the media in Guwahati, had also suggested that Rahul should visit the shrine after the Ayodhya programme, and not in the morning. “… we request that he goes to the Batadrava Sattra only after the Ram Mandir programme is over… There is no competition. He should not come and create an image of a competition,” he had said.

After long exchanges with Congress leaders, the police allowed Gaurav Gogoi and Sibamoni – the local MP and MLA respectively – to go past the barricades and visit the than.

According to AICC leader Jairam Ramesh, while the original plan was for Rahul to visit the than, in the end, only the two Assamese leaders were allowed to go, and it was decided that the Yatra would proceed only after they returned.

Later that afternoon, while the Yatra prepared to move from Jagiroad in Morigaon district to Jorabat at the Assam-Meghalaya border, it was brought to a halt for some time when Nagaon MP Pradyut Bordoloi raised an alarm that a large crowd wielding saffron flags had gathered along their route in Jagiroad.

“I spoke to the District Collector and the Superintendent of Police, and they gave me assurances. But in terms of action, I have not seen anything. They (the flag-wielding crowd) have totally blocked the road and are shouting communally provocative slogans. They are actually trying to create problems,” he told The Indian Express.

He said he had assured the local administration that Rahul, who is leading the Yatra, would not get down from the bus and that the Yatra would pass through peacefully. “We have no intention of challenging them (the crowd),” he said.

After a further delay of around an hour, the convoy passed through the area without incident under police cover.

On Saturday, the Morigaon DC had written to the District Congress committee, requesting that Rahul’s cavalcade should not stop during the course of the roadshow through the district, stating that the administration “apprehends the involvement of miscreants who may try to disrupt the peace and tranquillity” given the two events happening the same day.

Later in the evening, the convoy entered Nongpoh to commence the Meghalaya leg of the yatra.