Guwahati, April 3 Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma targeted Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) candidate Kunki Chowdhury, alleging that her mother had made social media posts supporting Pakistan and hurting the sentiments of 'Sanatani' people.
Sarma on Thursday claimed that Chowdhury's mother had shared posts related to beef consumption and made remarks offensive to certain sections.
The remarks triggered a sharp response from the AJP, with party president Lurinjyoti Gogoi accusing the chief minister of resorting to "Hindu-Muslim rhetoric" when he has no reply to questions raised by them.
Twenty-seven-year-old Chowdhury, among the youngest candidates in the fray, is making her electoral debut from Guwahati Central constituency. She is pitted against senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Gupta.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of his campaign at Khowang, from where Gogoi is contesting, Sarma said, "Kunki Chowdhury's mother is Sujata Gurung Chowdhury. She is a woman from Sikkim. We do not have a problem with that."
"But she has shared many photos of eating beef on Instagram... She is challenging the Sanatani people," the CM said, showing one such purported photo of the senior Chowdhury on his mobile phone.
He also claimed that Sujata had supported Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid over their purported comments for "cutting off the Chicken's Neck corridor" connecting the Northeast with the rest of the country.
"On Facebook, Sujata has openly supported the call by these two 'shaitans' (devils) to cut off the Chicken's Neck corridor. Moreover, she has also said that she does not believe in Lord Krishna. She also said we have portrayed Pakistan as an enemy in our general political discourse, but they are actually not our enemy," the CM claimed.
Sarma also took a personal swipe at Lurinjyoti Gogoi, saying that a former All Assam Students' Union (AASU) leader like him now needs the Gandhi family to win elections.
The AJP is contesting the assembly polls in alliance with the Congress and four other parties, with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra having campaigned in Gogoi's constituency on Wednesday.
"His only aim is to become an MLA and get married. I challenge him to dispute my assertions," Sarma added.
Gogoi, hitting back, questioned why the chief minister was dragging the candidate's mother into the political discourse.
"Why are you taking on the mother? You should take on the candidate," he asserted.
"She is a highly educated girl with a master's degree from University College London, younger than his daughter, and when she raised fundamental questions, he could not reply," the AJP chief maintained.
He said Kunki had raised the issues of artificial floods in Guwahati, traffic congestion, land rights for the indigenous people, and when the chief minister did not have any reply for these, "he went on doing Hindu-Muslim".
On the CM's allegation of Kunki's mother supporting Pakistan, Gogoi said, "Why is he bringing up Pakistan? Is the chief minister fighting elections in Pakistan? If he wants to go there, let him. We only know Assam and Guwahati Central."
"The BJP has given candidature to an outsider businessman in Guwahati Central, and when our highly educated, local candidate is gaining ground, he is worried," he claimed.
This is a democracy. What one eats, which religion they practise are private matters, Gogoi added.
Refusing to be dragged into the CM's comment on his wedding plans, Gogoi said, "When we raise relevant questions on Zubeen Garg's death, he diverts the topic to my wedding. He may win elections, but it will not stop us from raising the real issues."
Reacting to the chief minister's allegations, Kunki also posted a sarcastic video on social media in which she thanked Sarma for making her a household name in the country.
"A big thanks to the honourable chief minister. I learnt that during a media interaction, he made some allegations against my mother, which are completely untrue," she said.
Kunki maintained that the allegations prove that "the BJP has accepted defeat in Guwahati Central seat".
"It has been just 15 days since I have joined politics, and within this short span of time, the love that people of Guwahati Central and Assam have given me has worried them. With him (Sarma) uttering my name, the entire country will now know who is Kunki Chowdhury. I thank him again," she added.
Elections for the 126-member Assam assembly will be held on April 9. Votes will be counted on May 4.