"Assam's Muslims Don't Need Appeasement": Himanta Sarma's Swipe At Gaurav Gogoi

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has launched a strong attack on Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi over the Congress leader's stand on issues linked to religion.

Mr Sarma alleged Mr Gogoi's act of offering namaz in Sivasagar constituency, but not attending the Ram temple inauguration is appeasement politics.

"The people of Assam do not need appeasement. They need jobs and development," Mr Sarma said.

Mr Gogoi is the Congress candidate from the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat.

"Gaurav Gogoi seems to know the correct postures of offering namaz. I don't know where he has learnt it. But there is a question here that the way he and Akhil Gogoi has shown so much devotion about Eid, why did they  not show the same during the Ram mandir pran prathistha?" Mr Sarma said.

"When the pran prathistha was happening, he (Gaurav Gogoi) was fighting the administration and breaking laws walking beside Rahul Gandhi on the roads of Assam during the Congress yatra," the Chief Minister said.

"He has committed a big sin. He has not even visited Ram mandir once. He doesn't go to Kamakhya temple. We have so many other festivals, but we don't see his devotion there. People like him love no one. No Hindu, no Muslim. The Muslims of Assam do not need this kind of appeasement," Mr Sarma said.

Meanwhile, the nomination process for four Lok Sabha constituencies, including Guwahati, for the third phase began on Friday, the Election Commission said. The process started with a notification for the third phase across the country.

Voting in Guwahati, Barpeta, Dhubri and Kokrajhar (ST) constituencies will take place in the third phase on May 7.

As per the notification, the last date of filing nomination is April 19, while the scrutiny will be done the next day. The last day for withdrawal of candidature has been fixed on April 22.