Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said he would file a defamation suit against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for accusing him of investing his unaccounted money in industrialist Gautam Adani’s firms.
Tweeting on Congress turncoats, Mr. Gandhi named the Assam Chief Minister and four others including Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia of putting in a total of ₹20,000 crore ‘benami’ money in Mr. Adani’s companies.
“Rahul Gandhi’s tweet is defamatory. Once Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns from Assam, we will respond to the tweet. Definitely, there will be a defamation case in Guwahati,” Mr. Sarma said.
Mr. Modi is scheduled to visit Assam on April 14 to attend a Bihu function and inaugurate some projects.
Mr. Sarma also said he is waiting to “demystify” his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal’s claim of having provided jobs to 12 lakh youth.
“I am still waiting for the invitation from Kejriwal. I want to demystify how 12 lakh employments are possible when (the number of) sanctioned staff in the Delhi government is only 1.5 lakh,” he told journalists in Guwahati.
During a rally of the Aam Aadmi Party in Guwahati on April 2, Mr. Kejriwal said the Delhi government provided jobs to 12 lakh youth in the past 7-8 years. He also invited Mr. Sarma to his residence for a cup of tea when the latter would visit Delhi.
Mr. Sarma said the Assam government cannot give jobs to 12 lakh people when it has 4 lakh sanctioned staff.
“I have to unravel that mystery. He [Mr. Kejriwal] should not say at the end of the day that these are private jobs. We understand employment is government jobs. Otherwise, we can also say that our youth are employed,” he said.
“I have taken it as a national pride and prestige. No politician speaking from the soil of Assam should lie. It is a fact that they [Kejriwal government] have given free electricity to people. Politicians should not think we are fools. We have to show them that we are also intelligent people,” Mr. Sarma said.
