Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma inadvertently calling Amit Shah “prime minister” at a public event in the state has given new fodder to the opposition Congress to target the Union Home Minister and the BJP.
The Congress’ Assam unit shared the clip of Sarma’s address and asked whether the ruling party had already picked up its “next prime minister”.
Speaking in Assamese, Sarma welcomed “Prime Minister Amit Shah” and “Home Minister Narendra Modi”. This was evidently a mix-up as the chief minister addressed a crowd of hundreds at the event.
In a post on its official Facebook page, the Assam Congress alluded to Sarma calling Amit Shah “Prime Minister” as a deliberate act, drawing parallel with an Assam MP who used to call Sarma the “chief minister” when Sarabnanda Sonomwal was the chief minister of Assam.
At that time, Sarma was a minister in the Sonowal-led BJP government in the state. Interestingly, Sarma became the chief minister after the BJP retained power in Assam.
“When Sri Sarbananda Sonowal Ji was the Chief Minister of Assam, Tezpur MP Sri Pallab Lochan Das had on several occasions referred to Cabinet Minister Sri Himanta Biswa Sarma Ji as the Chief Minister of Assam in public! Is the incumbent CM doing a Das? Has BJP decided on its next PM?” the Congress said in its Facebook post.
“Or a campaign has been launched to promote Amit Shah Ji as the PM replacing Narendra Modi Ji? Going by Das’ example, it doesn’t appear to be a slip of tongue?” the Assam Congress said on the Facebook post.
