GUWAHATI:
The state Congress staged two protests in Guwahati, on February 14, following the controversial “father-son” remark against Rahul Gandhi by Assam chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, during an election rally in Uttarakhand on February 11.
While the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) demonstrated a mute protest inside the Rajiv Bhawan complex at 11 am, the dissent by Assam Pradesh Youth Congress (APYC) and National Students Union of India (NSUI) was staged at the Manabendra Sarma complex at 2 pm.
APCC president Bhupen Kumar Bora said, “Such a remark from a chief minister sheds poor light on the Assamese people. It is unfair to make a derogatory comment targeting a person’s family. A highly educated and civilised man does not make such a statement. We have no words to condemn his remark.”
In Rajeev Bhawan, apart from Bora, several Congress leaders including former MP Dwijen Sarma, former minister Sarat Barkataky, Sailen Bora, Raju Sarma, Nripen Thakuria, party workers from Mahila Congress, and Congress Seva Dal, among others took part in the mute protest.
Demanding a public apology from Sarma, around 200 members of APYC joined National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) secretary, Ajay Shikara, along with Ankita Dutta, Ratul Patowary and Paritosh Roy at the Manabendra Sarma complex and staged a protest against the chief minister’s controversial remark. “Our protest will go on till the chief minister gives a public apology,” Patowary said.
Security personnel and police closed the main gate of the complex, following which they chanted slogans and burnt Sarma’s effigy to show their dissent.
Notably, Sarma, on February 11, in response to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s demand for proof of the 2016 surgical strike, had asked if the BJP ever questioned the parentage of Gandhi, triggering protests in the state.