A stone-pelting attack on a Congress campaign convoy in Nagaon district on Monday ignited a fierce verbal duel between Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal. The incident occurred as party leaders, including former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Congress candidate Shivamoni Bora, traveled to Barma for a public meeting. The assault quickly escalated when a crowd took to the streets waving black flags, forcing police to deploy lathis and CRPF personnel to restore order as more stones were hurled.
Sarma moved quickly to defang the accusation, pinning the blame not on the ruling BJP but on Congress’s own internal fractures. In a post on X, he highlighted that the incident took place in the Samaguri Assembly constituency, represented by Congress MLA Tanzil Hussain, son of Congress MP Rakibul Hussain. "At its core, this was a clash between rival factions within the Congress itself," Sarma stated, citing the constituency’s previous voting pattern where Congress secured 1,45,212 votes compared to the BJP’s 36,902. He urged the state leadership to "rein in its factions" rather than shifting blame to the government.
Venugopal rejected the factionalism narrative outright, branding Sarma a "champion of political violence." He alleged that BJP workers orchestrated the "brutal stone pelting attack" to intimidate Congress leaders. "After West Bengal BJP's murder of democracy, today we have the champion of political violence Mr. @himantabiswa sending his goons to finish off his political rivals," Venugopal wrote, directly linking the violence to the state government’s muscle power. He further challenged the Election Commission of India, asking if they would dare to punish the "ruling regime" for using criminal means to subvert the election.
The standoff comes with the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll polling date fixed for October 6, with counts on October 9. The seat became vacant when Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned and subsequently contested the assembly elections from Dispur as a BJP candidate. Both parties are now intensifying their campaigns in the constituency, with the incident adding a volatile layer of communal and political tension to the already competitive race.