Gaurav Gogoi slams Himanta Sarma's tirade against Rahul Gandhi: 'Send him a mouthwash'

Aghast at Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma's harsh critique of Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on Sunday, urged someone to send Sarma a 'mouthwash'. Lashing out at RSS, he questioned why they were not condemning Sarma's 'uncultured' statements. Sarma is in controversy after he made a shocking comment on Rahul Gandhi and his father late PM Rajiv Gandhi.

Gaurav Gogoi slams Himanta

Sarma: 'Did I ask you proof of being Rajiv Gandhi's son?'

On Friday, while addressing a rally in Uttarakhand, Sarma attacked Congress for 'demanding proof of the surgical strikes'. He said, "Look at their mentality today, General Bipin Rawat who was the pride of Uttarakhand and the nation as well, under his leadership, India conducted a surgical strike in Pakistan. Rahul Gandhi then asked for proof. Have we ever sought proof of which father's son you are? What right do you have to ask for proof from the armed forces?"

Later, amid a massive furore, he defended himself saying, "Mentality of the Congress High command is that of not criticising the Gandhi family. Rahul Gandhi's language is similar to that of Jinnah before 1947”. He added, “In a way, Rahul Gandhi is modern-day Jinnah". Sarma's comments have been echoed by multiple BJP leaders and condemned by most Opposition parties.

Himanta Biswa Sarma & Gogois

In 2015, Himanta Biswa Sarma fell out with his mentor late CM Tarun Gogoi when he demanded to be named as the CM face for the next state elections. When Gogoi refused and reportedly backed his son Gaurav as the CM face, Sarma switched to BJP and was made the BJP's North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor. In 2016, he led the BJP to its first victory in the north-eastern state, ushering in Sarbananda Sonawal's maiden term.

Later, in 2021, Himanta once again led the BJP to victory, wooing women voters by promising to waive off small loans and not mentioning any implementation of CAA - which had been the main poll plank of the Congress. BJP won 60 seats while its alliance partners AGP got nine seats and UPPL got 6 seats, while Congress failed miserably, winning 29 seats while its Mahajot alliance partners won - AIUDF (16), BPF (4) and CPM (1). He was then sworn-in as the the state's 15th Chief Minister, succeeding Sonowal.