Guwahati: Two Congress functionaries were injured, and several vehicles were damaged after stones were allegedly hurled at a party campaign convoy in Assam’s Samaguri.AICC secretary Manoj Chouhan and Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress president Mira Borthakur were injured in the incident in Nagaon district on Monday evening. The convoy, carrying senior functionaries, including Assam in-charge Bhupesh Baghel, was campaigning ahead of Nagaon assembly bypoll.Congress filed an FIR at Nagaon Sadar Police Station and sought adequate security for Baghel from ADGP (special branch).The attack took place in the Borma-Kawaimari area during a roadshow from Samaguri to Lorimukh. APCC media department chairperson Bedabrata Bora alleged that “hired BJP goons” attacked the convoy with bottles, stones and bricks. He said Chouhan suffered chest and abdominal injuries, while Borthakur sustained head injuries.Around four vehicles, including those carrying MP Gaurav Gogoi and candidate Sibamoni Bora, were severely damaged, he added.Baghel, who was in Laharighat on Tuesday for a Congress workers’ meeting, blamed CM Himanta Biswa Sarma for the attack.“The attack on our convoy was nothing but a manifestation of Sarma’s panic. They have already conceded defeat and are desperately trying to intimidate us into retreating indoors. But he should know that we are not people who can be frightened.”Sarma denied BJP’s involvement and attributed the violence to an internal Congress rivalry.“There are different groups within Congress. One group supports Rakibul Hussain in Samaguri, while another does not. There is constant dispute and infighting between them. And violence in Samaguri is nothing new,” Sarma added.He said an inquiry would show that Congress workers were involved and alleged that Rakibul Hussain was central to electoral violence in the constituency.BJP’s Debasish Sharma, Congress’s Sibamoni Bora and AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal are among the key contestants in the bypoll, necessitated by the resignation of former Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi.
