E-Paper
Rahul Gandhi says Himanta will be in jail after Cong forms govt; CM hits back
Assam CM Himanta Sarma hit back at Rahul Gandhi saying the Congress leader was conveniently forgetting that he himself is out on bail in multiple criminal cases registered across the country
GUWAHATI: Congress leader and the leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday that his party will overthrow the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Assam in the coming assembly election next year and chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma would be in prison for corruption. Sharma hit back saying Gandhi was conveniently forgetting that he himself is out on bail in multiple criminal cases registered across the country.
“Your chief minister thinks of himself as the king of Assam. And he is busy round the clock trying to give away your earnings and land to Adani and Ambani. But if you listen to and hear him closely, you will notice a fear in his voice,” Gandhi said in a party workers meeting in Chaygaon, 40 km away from Guwahati.
“He’s aware that one day the lions of Congress will catch him and put him in prison. He knows that one day he will have to give details of the corruption indulged in by him and his family. Your CM will be in jail after some time and neither Modi, nor Amit Shah will be able to save him. This will be done by the people,” he added.
Gandhi was on a one-day visit to Assam along with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party general secretary KC Venugopal, where they interacted with party leaders, office bearers, MLAs and MPs ahead of the assembly election in the state scheduled in the early part of next year.
Gandhi said that a fight between ideologies is going on in the country. “On one side, the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) is (spreading) the ideology of hatred, violence, and division and making brothers fight among themselves. On the other side, the Congress’s ideology is of truth and non-violence, of joining hands and removal of hatred,” he said.
“Congress will sweep the next elections in Assam. We have put up a new team in the state under Gaurav Gogoi. I want to congratulate them on the work they have started, its effect will be seen in the near future,” he said.
Gandhi said that the BJP in collaboration with the Election Commission are working to remove lakhs of voters from the voter lists in Bihar. These people who are being removed are poor, workers, farmers and voters of Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal.
“That might happen in Assam as well. The people need to be aware and ensure that voter lists are correct and there’s no manipulation,” he said.
Congress president Kharge too targeted CM Sarma and assured that once the party forms government in Assam they will provide jobs and ensure all round development in all sectors.
“The tea garden workers in Assam aren’t getting minimum wages. The CM isn’t bothered about it...The CM should begin renovating prisons in the state as Congress is going to form government in the next election and he will have to spend time in jail,” he said.
Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi said that there will be a tough fight in the coming election and the BJP and its allies would be ousted as people have realised that if they want peace in Assam, they will need a Congress government in power.
“People are tired of fear, hatred and corruption. At present common people of Assam, the poor, the workers and farmers don’t have their own land. Land in Assam is now in hands of Mama (Himanta Biswa Sarma), Mami (Sarma’s wife), Adani and Ambani. The BJP is scared that when Congress comes to power next year, they will have to give details of all the land they have accumulated,” he said.
Taking to X, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said: “‘Take it in writing, Himanta Biswa Sarma will definitely be sent to jail’ — these were the exact words spoken by the Leader of the Opposition, Shri Rahul Gandhi, during his closed-door meeting with the Congress Political Affairs Committee in Assam. He came all the way to Assam just to say this, conveniently forgetting that he himself is out on bail in multiple criminal cases registered across the country.”
