Nearly 5,000 Congress workers, along with Rahul Gandhi, trying to enter Guwahati on Tuesday were intercepted after the party restarted its flagship ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ in Assam today. Following this, party workers clashed with police officials and broke police barriers. Cops resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the crowd.

The move comes amid the party’s ongoing allegations against the Assam government of trying to hinder their foot march since it entered the state on Thursday.

Addressing a gathering close to the Guwahati border, Rahul Gandhi said his party workers would never break the rules and disrupt law and order; however, “this doesn’t mean that we are weak”.

“Assam CM, the Union Home Minister and the PM can break the rules, but we (Congress) would never do such a thing. However, this doesn’t mean that we are weak. Congress workers are ‘Babbar Sher’,” he said, standing atop a bus.

Before leaving for Guwahati, the former Congress chief alleged that Union home minister Amit Shah instructed the Assam CM to stop him from meeting students, which was scheduled for today.

“The Home Minister of the country picked up the phone and called CM Himanta and said that Rahul Gandhi should not meet the students of Assam. That’s not important whether Rahul Gandhi comes here or not. What’s important is that the students must be allowed to listen to whomever they want to. But it is not happening in any schools and colleges in Assam. You are being told that you cannot speak your language. You are being told that you cannot have your history,” he said, alleging that efforts are being made to “enslave” students of North East and India