With just days before Assam's 126 Assembly constituencies go to the polls on April 9, Congress candidate Amar Chand Jain alleged that he was attacked on Thursday by BJP workers during a campaign attempt at the Katigorah constituency in Cachar.
According to Jain, the workers had stopped his car ahead of his scheduled campaign at the Kurkuri tea estate, allegedly saying that no Congress campaigns would be allowed in the area.
Slogans of 'Amar Chand Jain' and 'Congress go back' could also be heard during the protest, which reportedly escalated into physical assault on Jain's driver, and attempts to tow away the car.
This comes amid Jain's clash with the BJP's pick for the Katigorah constituency, Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, who—parallel to Jain—jumped ship between the Congress and the BJP.
While Jain had moved from the saffron party to the Congress, Purkayastha had moved in the reverse direction—from Congress to the BJP—as a result of which the national party has alleged that the latter was spreading anti-Congress sentiments in Katigorah.
According to an Asomiya Pratidin report, the protesters on Thursday claimed that the former Katigorah MLA had not carried out any development work in the tea estate over the past five years, because of which Jain did not have a moral right to run an election campaign in the area.
The report added that when the angry protesters tried to attack Jain as well, his security team intervened, and took him away from the tea estate.
The Congress MLA later filed an FIR against the alleged protesters. The incident has created unrest in the constituency as the April 9 polling date nears. Votes will be counted on May 4.