‘Late’ praise of Bhupen Hazarika by Rahul Gandhi makes no sense, claims Himanta

Guwahati, Sep 9 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for being “late” in praising Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika, whose birth centenary celebrations began on September 8.

The leader of the opposition uploaded a post on the music maestro at 12.30 pm on Monday after he was criticised by the BJP, and this made “no sense”, Sarma said.

At a press conference here, the CM initially said, ''Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote a beautiful article on Bhupen-da and all senior BJP leaders paid their tributes. But the leader of the opposition had no word for the legend. The people of Assam are pained at this.” Sarma said that he would not have said a word if Gandhi were just an MP, but he is the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha.

When it was pointed out that Gandhi had posted his tribute to Hazarika on X, Sarma said, ''He did so at 12:30 pm as a damage control exercise after the BJP media team criticised him. It was late and made no sense.'' ''Bhupen-da belongs to all and not to the BJP alone but Gandhi does not think so. He is a cartoon and will remain so,'' the CM added.

The nation paid rich tributes to Hazarika, whose year-long birth centenary celebrations began on Monday. PTI DG NN