Congress behaving like 'overground Maoists': Assam BJP chief after bottle 'hurled' at CM's convoy

Guwahati: Assam BJP president Dilip Saikia on Tuesday maintained that Congress members were behaving like "overground Maoists" in the state, as he lashed out at the opposition party a day after its supporters purportedly hurled a water bottle at the chief minister's convoy.

The ruling party also staged protests across the state, including Guwahati, demanding exemplary punishment against the culprits.

A water bottle was purportedly hurled at the convoy of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at Golaghat on Monday when the fleet of cars was passing by a protest staged by the local youth Congress wing against the alleged sale of 90 Gir cows, procured by the government, to individuals, including a minister's wife.

Black flags were waved at the chief minister by the Congress members. Police had said that four persons were detained in this connection.

Visuals showed a green colour plastic water bottle being thrown at a car in the chief minister's convoy.

Condemning the incident, Saikia said, "Someone must have instigated those who threw the bottle. Someone must have given them the order and they followed it." "I think an attempt to murder case should be registered against those responsible," he added, demanding the most stringent action against the culprits.

Saikia maintained that such "attacks" will not discourage the BJP or its supporters.

"Our chief minister is among the most efficient and popular ones in the country. Left liberals, pseudo-seculars and Congress are the same. They (Congress) behave like 'overground Maoists'," the state BJP president alleged.

The BJP Yuva Morcha (BJYM) organised sit-in demonstrations at the district and sub-divisional headquarters across the state against the incident.

Senior leaders of the party and BJYM karyakartas from 39 organisational districts participated in these demonstrations.

In Guwahati, state BJYM president Rakesh Das, MLA and BJP state general secretary Diplu Ranjan Sarma and participated in the protest.

The BJP youth wing members and leaders engaged in confrontation with the police and squatted on the roads when they were not allowed to proceed with their protest march.

While Congress is yet to formally respond to the allegation of its youth members hurling the bottle at the convoy, its former state president Bhupen Kumar Borah asserted that violence cannot be the language of protest.

"A democratic protest has to be non-violent and that's how we have been doing it. The language of protest has to be through one's voice and pen," he maintained.

Borah added that whoever was involved in the incident, it was wrong.

Golaghat district Congress leaders have distanced themselves from the purported incident, pointing the accusing finger at "miscreants".

"We don't support violence. It could have been the doing of some miscreant. Visuals are available and police can arrest on the basis of it," a district leader had said earlier.