Congress leader attacked in pre-poll violence in Assam

Guwahati: Pre-poll violence continued in Assam’s Samaguri Assembly constituency on the last day of campaigning for the upcoming by-election with the latest being a Congress leader who claimed to come under attack by miscreants.

The person identified as Amjad Ali, a local Congress leader alleged that he was targeted by a group of miscreants in the wee hours of Monday.

He told reporters here, “Around 4 a.m. in the morning today, some miscreants launched an attack on my house and the vehicle parked outside my residence got heavily damaged in the incident.”

Ali claimed that the miscreants belong to the BJP and he had a hitch with a group of ruling party workers during the poll campaign.

“I have registered a police complaint for an investigation in the incident,” he added.

Samaguri Assembly constituency has witnessed sporadic pre-poll violence with supporters of BJP and Congress clashing with each other on several occasions.

On late Saturday night, suspected armed criminals opened fire on a BJP march that included Barhampur MLA Jitu Goswami, injuring at least three people.

Attackers targeted BJP politicians taking part in the march, including MLA Goswami, in the Moriputhi neighborhood of Samaguri.

According to witnesses, the attackers first pelted stones at the participants before striking them with sticks. Three people were hurt when unidentified persons opened fire on the group. The attack also caused some damage to Goswami's car.

Reacting to the incident, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma lashed out at Congress party alleging that the opposition party which does photo-op with the Constitution is actually resorting to violence and attacking the BJP workers.

Taking to X, Sarma wrote, “I strongly condemn the attack on Hon’ble MLA Shri Jitu Goswami in Samaguri by @INCAssam supporters. This is the same Congress that proudly holds up the Constitution for the cameras, yet resorts to violence under cover of darkness to intimidate our karyakartas.”

“The real question is, why has Congress stooped to such low in this by-election? It’s not just fear of defeat but the desperation to hold on to their core vote bank that drives them to such extremes. Justice will be served, and we will not allow anyone to sabotage or undermine our democratic process,” he added.