Himanta Sarma said, 'Today at least let us not talk of Ravan".
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today responded with a Ramayan reference when a reporter asked why Congress's Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to enter a temple in the state. The reference though, was of Ravan, the 10-headed demon king the BJP has been comparing the Congress to since its three top leaders declined the invite to join the temple inauguration in Ayodhya which took place today, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Why are you talking of Ravan?" Mr Sarma replied. "At least talk about Ram today? After 500 years, today is a good day to talk about Ram. Today at least let us not talk of Ravan," he added.
Rahul Gandhi is currently conducting the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra that's passing through Assam, where the Congress claimed its convoy has been attacked.
This morning, Mr Gandhi was stopped from entering the state's well-known Batadrava Satra Temple, the birthplace of Srimanta Sankardeva, an Assamese saint and scholar from the 15th century, in Nagaon. The Congress leader registered protest by sitting on a dharna on the road in Nagaon, singing Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram.
Later, stopped from continuing the footmarch, Mr Gandhi held a street corner meeting in neighbouring Morigaon district.
Yesterday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had urged Mr Gandhi to reconsider the route for his 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', citing concerns about potential clashes with the programmes to be held in the state alongside the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Mr Gandhi was not invited for the consecration ceremony. The invite went to party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and the leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, all of whom declined, pointing to the politicisation of a religious event in an election year.
Rahul Gandhi had made his stance clear vis-a-vis the Ram temple inauguration, calling it a "Narendra Modi Function". "The RSS and the BJP have made the January 22 function a completely political, Narendra Modi function. It has become an RSS-BJP function." he said.
"It is difficult for us to go to a political function, which is designed around the prime minister of India and the RSS. We have made it clear that whoever among our partners or our party would like to visit the Ram temple is welcome to do it. It is difficult for us to visit (the temple) on January 22. That this is a prime minister's function and an RSS function and we are going to attend it ... it is not possible," he had added, drawing brickbats from the BJP.
"Rahul Gandhi lives in a la-la world. He thinks everything he says is predicated on nobody understanding the truth and he can get away with these atrocious lies," said Union minister and BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
The BJP has censured all who declined the invite. Calling the leaders anti-Hindu, the BJP has declared that they will get their punishment from the people at the hustings.