Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday came down heavily on the Congress, alleging that they demonstrated their indifference towards the Northeast and its people while mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi in their latest social media post.
A video shared by the Congress on its official handle on X, formerly Twitter, allegedly showed a distorted map of India, with the entire Northeast region missing.
Responding to the post, Mr Sarma alleged that it seemed from the clip that the Congress has already bartered away the Northeast to a "foreign country'.
Taking a screenshot of the Congress's post, Mr Sarma posted on X, "Seems the Congress party has secretly struck a deal to sell the entire land of the Northeast to some neighbouring country. Is this why Rahul went abroad? Or has the party given membership to Sharjeel Imam (a former student activist jailed under UAP(A) sections)?"
Further, speaking to ANI on Saturday, Mr Sarma called on people across the country to take note of the Congress's act and give them a befitting reply in next year's Lok Sabha elections.
"I saw that tweet. It felt like the Congress has given away our beloved Northeast region to China. They put out an India map from which the entire Northeast region had been cut off. This is a deliberate anti-national act. The people of the Northeast and across the country should take note of this and give them a befitting reply (in the Lok Sabha elections next year)," the Assam CM told ANI.
The controversial post, was, in a way, the Congress's take on a famous scene from the Bollywood film 'Deewar'.
The scene featured Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor, the two main protagonists in the film, in a fiery exchange, with the latter eventually saying, "Mere paas maa hai' (Mother is with me).
The Congress shared an animated video of that scene from 'Deewar', with Prime Minister Narendra Modi portrayed as Amitabh Bachchan and Rahul Gandhi depicted as Shashi Kapoor.
In the video, PM Modi could be heard saying "I have ED, police, power, money, friends... what do you have?"
To this, Rahul Gandhi replies, "The entire country is with me."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Naval Personnel Among 13 Killed As Navy Boat Collides With Ferry Near Mumbai World Leaders On Speed-Dial: How Elon Musk Is Causing Geopolitical Tremors Video: Moments Before Navy Boat Collided With Ferry Near Mumbai "Alvida Yatra": Tejashwi Yadav's Jibe Ahead Of Nitish Kumar's Pragati Yatra 1 More Arrested In Crude Bomb Attack Outside Gurugram Clubs "Will Continue To Protest In Parliament": Trinamool On Ambedkar Row Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.