A campaign convoy carrying senior Congress leaders came under a stone-pelting attack in Assam’s Nagaon district on Monday while traveling to a public meeting in the Samaguri assembly segment for the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll. Tension began when a crowd gathered along the route to wave black flags and demand the leaders turn back, and escalated into stone-throwing as the convoy returned after the meeting. Windows on at least two Congress vehicles were shattered, party workers and journalists sustained minor injuries, and central paramilitary personnel used a baton charge to disperse the crowd. Police have detained at least two people and are examining a formal complaint from the state’s Mahila Congress president.
Congress leaders accused BJP supporters of orchestrating the attack, shared videos appearing to show stones and bottles being thrown at their vehicles, and claimed their candidate lacked adequate security. A national Congress official accused the Assam government of using brute force to disrupt the opposition’s campaign and called on the Election Commission to act.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma offered a different account, describing the violence as an internal clash between rival factions within the Congress party rather than a government-orchestrated attack. He urged the state leadership to take responsibility for its internal rifts, pointing to family ties between the local Congress MLA and the sitting Lok Sabha MP as evidence of local factional tensions.