On Amit Shah's 'former Assam CM thrashed us' remark, Cong MP says he was who…

Union home minister Amit Shah trained his guns at Congress during a BJP workers' meet in Guwahati.

Published on: Oct 8, 2022, 18:47:05 IST

By HT News Desk

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Congress on Saturday hit back at Union minister Amit Shah for claiming that he, along with other Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members, was “beaten up" during his visit to Assam by then chief minister Hiteswar Saikia. Assam Congress spokesperson Bobbeeta Sharma said she doubts that the former CM had “thrashed” Shah but he “perhaps…saved Assamese society from dangers of polarization”.

Union home minister Amit Shah and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma during party workers' meet in Guwahati on Saturday. (ANI Photo)

Referring to Shah's remarks, Sharma tweeted, “Doubt 'thrash' but perhaps by discouraging late CM Hiteswar Saikia saved Assamese soceity from dangers of polarization -now evident. (sic)”

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh added to the debate saying Saikia was the one who “first gave respectability” to Himanta Biswa Sarma, the current Assam CM who switched to BJP from Congress.

“and it was hiteshwar saikia who first gave respectability to himanta biswa sarma who is now amit shah's favourite, (sic)” Jairam Ramesh, Congress general secretary in charge of communications, tweeted.

Earlier today, Shah recalled his visit to Assam as a leader of the student wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) during his initial years in politics, claiming that he was "beaten up a lot by Hiteswar Saikia”, in an apparent reference to the alleged police crackdown on protests by the ABVP during the Congress rule.

“I had come here for the program of the (Akhil Bharatiya) Vidyarthi Parishad, then we were beaten up a lot by Hiteswar Saikia (then Assam CM)... We used to shout slogans like ‘Assam ki galiyan sooni hain, Indira Gandhi khooni hai’. At that time it was not imagined that BJP would form the government in Assam twice on its own,” Shah said.

Shah inaugurated BJP's new headquarters in Guwahati in the presence of Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, state party head Bhabesh Kalita, Tripura chief minister Manik Saha and others.

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