In a unique controversy in the making, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday alleged that the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi used his body double during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Rahul Gandhi's body double controversy first surfaced when a portal shared a photo on X in which a Rahul Gandhi's lookalike was spotted standing in the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra bus. As a result, Rahul Gandhi's bodydouble controversy raised many eyebrows on social media and thereafter Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma pointing it made it even more complicated.
During a press conference, Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "A report has raised a very big question in Assam that Rahul Gandhi used his body double during Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Meaning, the person who was seen standing in front of the bus is not Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi is inside where 8 people can stay in the cabin. Original Rahul Gandhi stays in his room inside the bus. Outside he uses a body double and that is a big question. The person standing in the front is like Rahul Gandhi from afar. But people who see him from nearby, that he does not seem like Rahul Gandhi. I haven't seen it, but you all can see the picture."
Talking about Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, the march has been led by Rahul Gandhi. It commenced from Manipur on January 14 and will culminate on March 20 in Mumbai. The Assam leg of the march, which began on January 18, travelled 833 km in 17 districts. On the other hand, the Bengal leg of the yatra covers 523 km across six districts and six Lok Sabha constituencies — Darjeeling, Raigunj, North and South Malda, and two in Murshidabad — spanning five days. This is Gandhi's first visit to the state since the April-May 2021 assembly polls.