New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s comments about the looks of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has triggered sharp reactions from the grand old party.
Sarma, on Tuesday, claimed that Rahul Gandhi looks like “Saddam Hussein”, the former Iraqi dictator, and it would have been better had he turned his appearance like Sardar Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru or Mahatma Gandhi, as reported by news agency PTI.
During a public rally in Ahmedabad, Assam CM, said: “I just saw that his looks have also changed. I said in a TV interview a few days back that there is nothing wrong with his new look. But if you have to change the looks, at least make it like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel or even Jawaharlal Nehru will do. It is better if it looks like Gandhiji. But why is your face turning into Saddam Hussein?”
“This is because the Congress culture is not closer to Indian people. Their culture is closer to people who have never understood India,” he added.
Congress leaders hits back
Hitting back, the Congress on Wednesday said that the Assam chief minister was behaving like a “petty troll”.
“I would not even like to dignify this diatribe with my reaction. I think it is very important that we maintain the decorum of language in public and maintain some propriety,” Congress leader Manish Tewari said.
The CM of Assam unfortunately sounds like a petty troll when he articulates sentences of this type, he added.
News agency ANI quoted Assam Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah as saying: “You (Assam CM) just want a headline and you get that only when you take Rahul Gandhi’s name. Himanta Biswa Sarma can say anything. He can go to any level for power. We don’t pay attention.”
“He (Sarma) was the same person who used to praise Rahul Gandhi, and now he is giving such shameful comments,” ANI quoted Rajasthan Cabinet Minister Pratap Singh Kachariyawas.
The ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi entered Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, as the Congress chief of Maharashtra unit Nana Patole handed over the national flag to his MP counterpart Kamal Nath.
(With inputs from agencies)
