'Should we also drop last letter from Rahul?': Himanta mocks Rahul Gandhi over Sitharaman name typo
Himanta Biswa Sarma mocked Rahul Gandhi for misspelling Nirmala Sitharaman's name on X. The exchange expanded into disputes over Tata matters, business policy and political tactics.
- Oct 30, 2026,
- Updated Oct 30, 2026, 3:26 PM IST
- Gandhi questioned a meeting involving Tata entities and Amit Shah
- He alleged the Tata Group was being criminally destroyed by authorities
- Sitharaman accused him of politicising commercial and legal matters without evidence
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on October 30 took a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over a spelling error in a social media post targeting Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, accusing the Congress of resorting to attention-seeking tactics on X.
Reacting to Gandhi addressing the Finance Minister as ‘Sitarama’ instead of ‘Sitharaman’, Sarma said the Congress leader had dropped the last letter of her name to attract attention.
"Now Congress says this is a new style of getting attention on X. Should we also start dropping the last alphabet from both ‘Rahul’ and ‘Gandhi’ just to get attention?" Sarma wrote while quote-posting Gandhi's remarks.
The Assam Chief Minister also advised the Congress to focus on electoral battles rather than social media exchanges.
"A little unsolicited advice to Congress: Fight us on the ground, through both the ballot and the EVM, not through attention-seeking tricks on social media," he added.
The exchange began after Gandhi questioned the circumstances surrounding a meeting involving Tata Trusts, Tata Sons and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. In his post, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha addressed Sitharaman as ‘Mrs Sitarama’ and raised questions about why representatives of the Tata entities were hosted at Shah's residence.
He also alleged that the Tata Group was being "criminally destroyed" and accused business leaders of remaining silent out of fear.
"Indian business is not Modi and Shah's plaything. You lack courage. We don't. We will ensure justice for these crimes," Gandhi said.
Sitharaman subsequently responded to Gandhi, accusing him of politicising commercial and legal matters and making allegations without evidence.
"Being the LoP Rahul Gandhi, I suggest you refrain from politicising every issue. Also, casually labelling commercial and legal matters as criminal is unacceptable," she wrote.
The Finance Minister further accused the Congress of undermining Indian entrepreneurs during its years in power, invoking the ‘Licence-Quota Raj’ and contrasting it with the Narendra Modi government's policies towards industry and investment.
She also urged Gandhi to engage constructively rather than make what she described as baseless allegations for political gains.
"Refrain from seeing ghosts everywhere," Sitharaman said in her response.
