The war-of-words between Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi continues as the former clarified that he had never said Gogoi was a better Chief Minister than Hiteswar Saikia. Few days back, Gogoi said once upon a time Himanta used to brand him as the best Chief Minister Assam had ever got and now he keeps on criticizing him.
Reacting to this statement on Thursday, Himanta said, “I never said Tarun Gogoi is the best Chief Minister Assam had ever got. I never said he is better than Hiteswar Saikia. I had put an adjective behind his name out of courtesy and he took it seriously.”
Even though Himanta worked as a minister in Tarun Gogoi’s cabinet, it is a well known fact that he was more close to former Chief Minister Hiteswar Saikia who had inducted him in Congress. After Saikia’s demise, he came close to Gogoi but later they were at loggerheads as Sarma openly revolted against Gogoi.
Taking a jibe at Kaliabor MP Gaurav Gogoi, who is the son of Tarun Gogoi, Himanta said, “My biggest mistake was not saying that Gaurav Gogoi is the best Congress leader of all time. This led to my ouster from the Congress party.”
Himanta also claimed Tarun Gogoi falsely said he has never heard the name of RSS ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay.
“Gogoi is saying that he has never heard the name of Deen Dayal Upadhayay but he had started a handicraft scheme named after Deen Dayal ji in the year 2007. Why did he name a scheme after someone whose name he had never heard?” asked Himanta.