'Exodus' of Assam Congress leaders started after Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claims Congress leaders are joining the BJP after Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' in Titabor.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that an "exodus" of Congress leaders began after Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' passed through the State.

In an interview with PTI at Titabor in Jorhat district, Mr. Sarma slammed Mr. Gandhi for raking up topics such as caste census and Manipur violence in Assam without having a proper briefing on the ground situation.

He claimed that more leaders of the grand old party will join the BJP after the Lok Sabha elections.

"During 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', he [Gandhi] did a lot of [political] harakiri on the roads. People, including Congress leaders, got very offended. That helped us a lot," he said when asked if the yatra would have any impact on Lok Sabha elections in the State. Mr. Sarma claimed the exodus from Congress started after the yatra and it is continuing.

"Rahul doesn't know the culture of a State. He doesn't study or discuss with his colleagues. He comes and irritates people. If we go to a State, we will have a proper briefing like who are the cultural icons, what things are to be said or not to be said and what are the sensitivities of that State," he added.

The Chief Minister, who travels extensively across India to campaign for the BJP during different elections, claimed that he takes briefing and debriefing before going to a State so that nothing goes wrong.

"Rahul comes without that kind of briefing. And he, directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, ends up humiliating the local people and that creates a problem," he added.