Selfie craze in Gauhati University as CM Himanta visits for Foundation Day

GUWAHATI: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was hounded by students at Gauhati University (GU) today for 'selfies' when he went to visit the University for a formal function.

Senior journalist Atanu Bhuyan tweeted a clip of the selfie craze along with the words: "Students were seen in rush trying to click selfie with CM @himantabiswa during his visit to Gauhati University today."

However, not all netizens reacted positively to the CM's intimate moment with the GU students. Especially as COVID-19 induced curbs have been re-imposed owing to the quick spread of the Omicron variant.

"Sir if you can roam without mask and without social distancing why have you closed down all the school. Our state needs a stong education system look at the priority Europe has for their schooling system," wrote a twitterati, while another took a jibe at the students. "These same morons will cry for online exams taking cover of covid."

However, Biswa Sarma's fans did surface in the thread. One user wrote, "This is our CM most famous person in state. Everyone loves him."

Biswa Sarma had visited to celebrate the Foundation Day Celebration of Gauhati University. He delivered a speech at the B.K.B Auditorium to raucous response.

In this short clip that is now going viral, students can be seen jostling with each other to get a good selfie. Some even referred to the CM as 'mama' (uncle), which is what the student fraternity (and most youths, for that matter) call him as.

Today, Assam saw a dip in COVID-19 cases, with 1,951 samples testing positive out of 19,803 tests done (positivity rate of 9.85%). In the most populous district Kamrup(Metro) alone, 422 cases were reported. While 21 people lost their lives due to COVID induced illness, 93 patients were declared 'COVID free.'