Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said in Guwahati that a defamation case will be registered against Rahul Gandhi in Guwahati over his recent tweet linking the Assam CM with Gautam Adani. Sarma said that what Rahul Gandhi tweeted is definitely defamatory. However, he said that the case will be filed after 14th April, as the state govt is busy with several programs planned on that day with the presence of prime minister Narendra Modi.
“Whatever Rahul Gandhi has tweeted, it is a defamatory tweet, so once prime minister goes back from Assam, we will respond to the tweet, and definitely there will be a defamation case in Guwahati,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
“But not now, I don’t want to talk about politics because we want to celebrate Bihu. As after 14 April, that will be there,” he added.
The Assam CM further said, “and I am still waiting for the invitation from Kejriwal. Because I want to demystify how 12 lakh employment is possible where sanctioned staff in Delhi govt is only 1.5 lakh. So I want to ask him that question.”
Himanta Biswa Sarma also mocked Arvind Kejriwal’s claim that there are 50 lakh unemployed youths in Assam, saying that he mentions the same figure in every state. He said that Assam has 12 lakh unemployed youths, and given the population of the state, the number can’t be 50 lakh. ‘He does not know that he has to change the number according to the state’, the Assam CM said. He further questioned the journalists for not questioning the wrong numbers quoted by Kejriwal.
Kejriwal had said in Guwahati last Sunday, “There is so much unemployment in Assam, educated youths are roaming around and crying for jobs. Himanta Biswa Sarma promised he will remove unemployment. How many jobs has he provided? The government says there are 25 lakh unemployed persons but the number will be about 50 lakh.”
When he was asked about a postering drive taken out by AAP in Guwahati, Assam CM said, ‘I didn’t even know that such a party exists in Assam’. He said that anyone can put up posters, but a party can be taken seriously only after election results. He said that for now, AAP in Assam is only a concern for media, and it has not become a concern for him.
It is notable that Rahul Gandhi on 8th April posted a graphic mixing the Adani with five former Congress leaders, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiran Kumar Reddy, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Anil Antony, insinuating that the former Congress leaders may have invested in the Adani Group. Except for Azad, the rest four are in BJP. In the graphic, featuring the logo of the Adani group, each letter in the word Adani is used to form the name of the five former Congress leaders. “They want to hide the truth and therefore misguide you every day. The question is the same – Who has poured ₹20,000 crore illegal funds into Adani’s companies,” Gandhi had written in the tweet.
Himanta Biswa Sarma made the comments while addressing a press conference to inform about the programs to be held on 14th April and various projects to be unveiled by PM Modi. The AIIMS Guwahati will be inaugurated by the prime minister on that day. Then he will launch a medical engineering project to be taken by a hospital to be built by IIT Guwahati and Assam government. He said that the hospital will work on developing indigenous medical engineering solutions.
The prime minister will also virtually inaugurate three new medical colleges in Assam which have been approved by the National Medical Commission. These three new medical colleges are Nalbari Medical College & Hospital, Nagaon Medical College & Hospital and Kokrajhar Medical College & Hospital.
The PM will also attend the conclusion program of the platinum jubilee celebration of Gauhati high court. “He will then inaugurate the newly installed Assam Petro Chemicals Limited 500 project TPD Methanol at Namrup, costing Rs 1,709 crores. He will lay the foundation stone of another bridge connecting Palasbari and Sualkuchi on the Brahmaputra river, costing Rs 3,170 crore,” the CM said.
The main attraction of the PM’s visit will be a Bihu dance performance by over 11,000 boys and girls at Sarusajai Stadium. The performance by dancers and drummers is expected to occupy a place at the Guinness World Records. 11,140 performers, including 7000 girls to dance and over 4000 boys to play various bihu instruments, are practicing for the event for a month at every district in the state for the 15-minute dance. Dry runs for the performance will be held from 11th to 13th. Assam Govt paid Rs 10,500 to cover the cost of a standardised attire, other accessories and travel to Guwahati, while the govt is paying for their lodging and food in the city.
