Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has warned that he will file a defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his tweet linking him with the Gautam Adani-led group. The Chief Minister of Assam said this while addressing a press conference held in Guwahati on Sunday. The Assam chief minister told reporters that he would file a defamation case against Rahul Gandhi after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Assam on April 14.
He said, “Whatever Rahul Gandhi has tweeted is a defamatory tweet. So after the Prime Minister returns from Assam, we will reply to the tweet and definitely there will be a defamation case in Guwahati.” Sarma further said, “But not now, I don’t want to talk about politics now, because we Want to celebrate Bihu.”
LIVE: Addressing the press conference of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India on upcoming visit to Assam at Janta Bhavan https://t.co/mgFFidtXKR– Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) April 9, 2023
Rahul Gandhi’s latest Adani tweet angers BJP leaders
Continuing his attack on the government over the Adani case, Rahul Gandhi in a scathing tweet on Saturday hit out at some of the leaders who left the Congress and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party over the years. He posted a picture bearing the names of former Congress leaders who have either joined the BJP or ended their decades-long association with the grand old party, along with businessman Gautam Adani. The names shown in the picture include Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, former MP Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, leader Anil Antony and former CM Kiran Reddy.
“They hide the truth, that’s why they mislead every day! The question remains the same – Who owns the Rs 20,000 crore benami money in Adani’s companies?” Rahul Gandhi asked in a tweet in Hindi, sharing a picture with ‘Adani’ inscribed with the names of the leaders.
They hide the truth, that’s why they mislead everyday!
The question remains the same – who has ₹20,000 crore benami money in Adani’s companies? pic.twitter.com/AiL1iYPjcx— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 8, 2023
Responding to this, the Chief Minister of Assam said that the BJP never questioned him about the alleged concealment of proceeds of crime from the Bofors and National Herald scams, or how Ottavio Quattrocchi repeatedly escaped Indian justice. He said they will meet in court.
Sarma targets Kejriwal for ’12 lakh jobs’
Sarma also hit out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying he was still waiting for a meeting with him to know about Kejriwal’s claims of providing jobs. “Because I want to demystify that how is 12 lakh jobs possible when Delhi government has only 1.5 lakh sanctioned employees. So, I want to ask them this question. If Assam government has 4 lakh sanctioned employees If so, how can I give the appointment?” 12 lakh people? So I have to solve that mystery. They should not say that at the end of the day, these are private company jobs,” said Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Guwahati for various events including the state’s attempt to set a record for the largest Bihu performance with over 11,000 dancers and drummers.