Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said that the alleged ‘body double’ used by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the Assam leg of the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ has been identified and his name will be revealed soon.
Speaking to the media CM Sarma said, “We have identified the body double which Rahul Gandhi was using during the yatra. Once Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit (to Assam) gets over (on February 4), I will hold a press conference to disclose his identity.”
He said that the state government has confirmation that Gandhi was using a ‘lookalike’ to cheer at crowds from his vehicle through most of the yatra in Assam.
“After the controversy, the body double quietly left Guwahati without accompanying Rahul to the next leg of the yatra in West Bengal,” CM Sarma said.
On January 28, three days after the yatra left Assam and entered West Bengal, Sarma had claimed that the Congress MP was using a lookalike to replace him for some parts of the journey that passed through the northeastern state between January 18 and January 25.
The CM said the matter was first reported by a media outlet and when the body double left Guwahati after the report was out, it confirmed his allegation about the use of a lookalike by the Congress leader.
Assam Police registered a case against Gandhi for allegedly provoking the crowd to incite violence and damage to the public property after the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra was not allowed to enter the Guwahati city by the local administration citing disruption in traffic.
While one case involving the breaking of barricades in Guwahati, in which Gandhi is also named as an accused, is being investigated by a special investigation team (SIT), the other lodged in Jorhat, where Assam Congress unit president Bhupen Kumar Borah is named as an accused, is being investigated by the district police.
