Himanta Biswa questions Rahul Gandhi's parentage; Congress accuses of "ruining Assam's image"

GUWAHATI: Assam Congress Friday accused Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of ruiningthe state’s image with his controversial statement on former party president Rahul Gandhi at an election rally in poll-bound Uttarakhand.

“Have we ever asked you if you are really Rajiv Gandhi’s son or not?” Biswa Sarma had questioned, taking a jibe at the Gandhi scion for questioning the 2016 surgical strikes against Pakistan during an Uttarakhand rally.

Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah said that Assamese are known as cultured and well-mannered people all over the world and the state is popular across the globe as a centre of spirituality.

He said that Sarma with his "deplorable comment" has lowered the image of Assam’s residents in the eyes of the world.

Borah further targeted Sarma by alleging his involvement in corruption and crime since his student days and added that he hasn’t had any change in manners and character even after being elected Chief Minister.

“Sarma had (left Congress) and joined BJP to escape the CBI’s clutches and now he is targeting Gandhi with uncivilized and low-mannered remarks in order to escape being targeted by the RSS and BJP high command for the illegal land deals made by his family,” said the Congress state president.

“Coal won’t change its colour even if it is kept dipped in milk. With his statements which shows power has gone to his head, Sarma has proved that it won’t be possible to expect high ideals and better public utterances from such a Chief Minister,” Borah added.

Follow us on Facebook