GUWAHATI: The Congress in Assam slammed Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his alleged offensive remark against party stalwart Rahul Gandhi and his family.
In poll-bound Uttarakhand, Sarma had on Friday come down heavily on Gandhi for demanding proof of the 2016 surgical strike and told the Congress leader if the BJP ever asked him to prove he was the son of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
The Assam Congress said such a remark from a CM was uncalled for. “A highly-educated and civilised man does not make such a statement. He was elected as the CM by the people of Assam and he represented the state in Uttarakhand. His remark, made for some votes, was both against Indian civilisation and Assamese culture,” Assam Congress leader Debabrata Saikia said.
It is not fair for anyone to make such a “derogatory” comment against a person and his family. This will take the country’s politics down, the Congress leader said.
“He (Sarma) says he will bring new culture, change in Assam. If this is what he is going to bring, no one can save the state,” Saikia said.
He said everyone should condemn the statement.
Congress’ students’ wing National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) demanded that Sarma quit as CM and apologise for the remark.
The members of NSUI also staged a protest in New Delhi. They chanted slogans against Sarma and smeared his posters and effigy in black.
The Assam CM, however, remained unfazed.
“Karma hits us back. We will never realise the pain of a soldier, who risks his life to conduct surgical strike on enemy land, when a Congress leader insults his patriotic act by demanding proof of it. Time for someone to introspect,” he tweeted on Saturday.