Why does Himanta Biswa Sarma make a derogatory statement against Rahul Gandhi?

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently made a controversial remark on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at an election rally in Uttarakhand, which was heavily criticized. Youth Congress workers also protested against Chief Minister Sarma in many parts of the country including Delhi.

From Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge to Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi, many party leaders have termed this objectionable remark of Himanta Biswa Sarma as childish and condemnable.

Meanwhile, several women members of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee reached the Dispur police station on Tuesday to register a case against Chief Minister Sarma, but the case was not registered.

While the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee has demanded the immediate dismissal of Sarma and has said that several criminal cases should be registered against him in different police stations of Telangana.

Political experts give many arguments behind this controversial statement of Himanta Biswa Sarma, who left Congress and joined BJP in August 2015. Because earlier when he was in Congress, even during that time he had made such remarks against BJP leaders in election rallies. But even after joining BJP, he has not suffered any political loss.

Political analysts say that Himanta Biswa Sarma has been very ambitious from the beginning and has been making such controversial statements from time to time to shine his politics.

Himanta Biswa Sarma is not traditionally a BJP or RSS man. Himanta Biswa Sarma, who joined BJP after spending more than two decades in Congress, is now trying to prove himself more loyal and nationalist of BJP. Therefore, in his aggression behind personal attacks on the Gandhi family or "communal rhetoric", it is clear that he is trying to establish himself as a Hindu leader in the BJP.

Nav Kumar Thakuria, a senior journalist who has been doing journalism for a long time in Assam, says, "Himant is a very clever player of politics and he deliberately makes such controversial statements. The remarks he made on Rahul Gandhi in Uttarakhand's election rally are of mouth. Not slippery. Rather he has made such remarks intentionally.

"Their motive was to attack Congress and Rahul Gandhi. There are two motives behind this. First, he needs publicity so that his national identity as a BJP leader can be made. The second motive is to make Rahul Gandhi dearer to the top leadership of the BJP by making personal attacks on him.

What did Himanta say about Rahul Gandhi?

Himanta Biswa Sarma, while addressing a rally in Uttarakhand on February 11, had said, "Rahul Gandhi had asked for proof of surgical strike. Dear brother! Which father's son are you, have we ever asked for proof? What is your right to demand proof from my soldier? If our army says that we have exploded a bomb in Pakistan, then it has burst. What's the controversy in that? Did you not trust Bipin Rawat? Have I ever asked you for proof of whether you are the son of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi or not?

But this time Chief Minister Sarma has come under the target of not only Congress but various parties for his controversial statement. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao condemned the statement of Chief Minister Sarma and demanded his resignation from top BJP leaders.

However, Himanta Biswa Sarma has told the media after being criticized by the opposition that the Congress is "misinterpreting" his statement and making it an issue to "deviate from the real questions".

But Chief Minister Sarma continues to criticize Rahul Gandhi even after the election rally. He had recently said in front of the media, 'Rahul Gandhi sees India only from Gujarat to Bengal. Jinnah's ghost has entered inside Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi is speaking the same language as Mohammad Ali Jinnah used to use before 1947.

After all, what could be the reason behind his feud with Rahul Gandhi?

Answering this question, senior state journalist Baikunth Nath Goswami says, "In the 2011 assembly elections in Assam, Himanta was made in-charge of the state and Congress won 78 out of 126 seats in that election. He had become the CM twice in the state, so Himanta had such hope that the party high command would make him the Chief Minister after such a big victory.

"He held several meetings with the then Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, but the party did not take any such decision. Especially at that time, he did not get any support from Rahul Gandhi. This is considered to be a major reason for their displeasure. So after joining BJP, he got a chance to openly speak against Rahul Gandhi.

In the year 2017, Rahul Gandhi had made a tweet while feeding biscuits to his domestic dog, to which Himanta wrote, "Who knows him (Rahul Gandhi) better than me. Still, let me remind you that you him (the dog)." We were busy feeding biscuits, while we wanted to discuss important issues with you in Assam."

During that time that tweet of Himanta made media headlines and since then he has been continuously commenting about Rahul Gandhi. He has publicly called Rahul Gandhi arrogant many times.