After 'looks like Saddam Hussein' jab, Himanta Sarma's new advice for Rahul

Sarma had earlier said Rahul Gandhi's new beard made him look the ex Iraqi dictator who was hanged in December 2006 after he was convicted of crimes against humanity.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday spoke about last week's crude 'looks like Saddam Hussein' swipe at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. Speaking to news agency ANI the ex-Congress leader said Gandhi could look like (Pandit Jawaharlal) Nehru if he shaved the bushy beard grown during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (PTI)

"I did not say anything about his (Rahul Gandhi) look," Sarma claimed.

"I just said (that) with time your face has started looking the same as Saddam Hussein's... but if you shave your beard you will start looking like Nehru," he said.

Sarma's contentious remarks were made last week during an event in prime minister Narendra Modi's home state, which will hold an Assembly election next month; the first phase of voting will be on December 1, with the second on Dec 5 and results on Dec 8.

At that event Sarma had said Rahul Gandhi's new beard made him look the ex Iraqi dictator who was hanged in December 2006 after he was convicted of crimes against humanity.

"... if you have to change your looks, then at least make it like Vallabhbhai Patel or Jawaharlal Nehru. Even better if you look like Gandhiji... why do you look more like Saddam Hussein?"

The swipe triggered an angry response from Congress leader Manish Tewari, who said the Assam chief minister 'sounds like a petty troll'.

"In public life, it is very important we maintain decorum of language and propriety. The chief minister of Assam, unfortunately, sounds like a petty troll when he articulates sentences of this kind," Tewari was quoted by news agency ANI.

Other Congress leaders accused Sarma of making statements just to generate headlines.