Will Share Identity of ‘Body Double’ Used By Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi, says Himanta

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that he will share the name and address of the 'body double' purportedly used by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in the state.

Sarma had brought up the allegation of the Congress MP using a 'body double' during the Yatra at a press conference on Thursday, during which he quoted a media report claiming that the person sitting and waving at people from the Yatra bus was “probably not Rahul Gandhi at all”.

"I don't just say things. The duplicate's name, and how it was done - I will share all details. Just wait for a few days," the chief minister said in Sonitpur district on the sidelines of a programme, when asked by reporters about the allegation against Gandhi.

"I will be in Dibrugarh tomorrow, and the next day also I will be out of Guwahati. Once I am back in Guwahati, I will give name and address of the duplicate," the BJP leader said.

The Manipur-Maharashtra Nyay Yatra, being led by Gandhi, had travelled through Assam from January 18 to 25, during which the Congress MP had alleged that Sarma is the 'most corrupt CM of India'.

The opposition party also alleged denial or problems in route permissions through the state by the BJP-led government. The situation reached a flashpoint when Congress leaders and workers broke police barricades erected to prevent them from entering the main city limits of Guwahati.

An FIR was registered against Gandhi and others over the incident, with Sarma later stating that they would be arrested after the Lok Sabha polls as he did not want to 'politicise' the issue prior to the elections.

Sarma maintained that the Congress will need all the Gandhis - Sonia, Priyanka and Rahul - to defeat him in the state.

"Let them bring Priyanka Gandhi's son also," he said.

"They have already put up their hands (in surrender). They couldn't do it through Rahul, so they will now get Priyanka and then Sonia," Sarma said, referring to the Congress' proposed programme in the state involving Priyanka Gandhi.

On BJP and its allies' Lok Sabha poll prospects in the state, the CM said, "We have 11-and-a-half assured seats. We are working on how to convert it into 12. We are not bothered about any Congress list (of candidates)." The state sends 14 members to the Lok Sabha, of which nine are currently held by the BJP, three by Congress, one by AIUDF and one Independent. (With inputs from PTI)