Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra Faces Restrictions in Bengal's Birbhum

Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra's Birbhum leg concluded on Friday in Bengal, whereupon state police reportedly imposed more restrictions on the Congress gathering, citing Madhyamik examinations.

Bengal commenced the Madhyamik examinations on Friday at 9.45 a.m.

"On Thursday night, the police superintendents of Birbhum and Murshidabad began phoning our leaders, pleading with them to abandon the Yatra. Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, "I was informed (by an SP) that there is the Madhyamik examination on Friday, and that is why they want Rahul Gandhi ji to start from Murshidabad at 6am and the police will escort his convoy up to the Jharkhand border."

"Once examinees arrived at their centers, there was no issue with permitting the Yatra to go across the district. But we avoided getting into any conflicts with the authorities," Chowdhury said.

The authorities eventually consented to let the Yatra pass through the district, but with additional conditions, after a protracted argument that lasted over many phone conversations until early Friday. "As our Delhi leaders did not want to be involved in any confrontation with the Mamata Banerjee government at this moment," a Birbhum-based Congress politician said, they made the decision to abide by the limits.

Rahul's Birbhum from Murshidabad was delayed on Friday due to the new limits. Rather of arriving to the Birbhum district at 10 a.m. as scheduled, he arrived at noon. After that, he arrived at Rampurhat and spent about two hours waiting for lunch and talks with locals inside a tent. Rahul eventually left Bengal around 6.30 pm and arrived in Pakur, Jharkhand.

Amidst the many barriers, Birbhum police declared that a maximum of two compact cars might trail the "VIP carcade" and that buses would not be permitted.

Rahul had to drive a red convertible along the road on the last day of his Yatra's Bengal leg without stopping to greet people because of this.

Rahul visited people along the way, hence it took him three hours, according to a Congress source, to travel 41 kilometers on Thursday from Lalgola to Behrampore in Murshidabad. A Congress leader said that on Friday, "he took only half the time to cover 44km to reach the Birbhum border." "Thousands of people stood on both sides of the route but he could not even stop to shake hands or talk to people waiting for him for hours," according to him.

In less than a minute, Rahul paused his journey to give chocolates to kids who were waiting by the road. Rahul was supposed to speak to the throng for a minute from a tiny platform that the Congress had built up, but the police forbade it.

On the last day, the pattern of anti-Chowdhury posters persisted.

A banner held by Muslim ladies in Birbhum's Muraroi said, "Adhir Chowdhury wants Rahulji's Yatra to only pass through Muslim areas to divide Muslim votes," as Rahul's van drove by.

During a tense altercation with police in the evening, four Congress employees—including state media coordinator Sourav Roy—were taken into custody when a police car narrowly struck an ambulance that was part of Rahul's convoy. According to a police official, Rahul's vehicle was being approached by the Congress workers' ambulance.

Jairam Ramesh, the head of communications for Congress, made an effort to provide a cordial summary of the situation.

"Our employees find the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra exciting. They will be so excited that they will speak a lot. Officially, nevertheless, this is the Indian National Congress's opinion, as I would say. The party believes that there are 27 parties and an INDIA group. We have reached a mutually agreeable and satisfied arrangement about seat sharing," he said.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.