Assam CM’s beef Remark Puts AJP Candidate in Spotlight
Guwahati: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s outburst against the youngest candidate in the fray. Opposition-listed Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) Kunki Choudhury’s claims that he eats his mother’s beef, is anti-nationalist and anti-artist, have brought him into the limelight ahead of the assembly polls on April 9.
Ms. Kunki Chowdhury, a University College London graduate from one of Assam’s leading business families, is contesting from Guwahati’s central Guwahati constituency against 70-year-old BJP’s Vijay Gupta.
On Thursday, Mr. Sarma alleged that his mother, Sujata Gurung Chowdhury, ate beef, supported anti-nationals and went against Sanatani traditions. The Prime Minister displayed social media posts to prove the accusations.
“AJP has fielded a candidate whose mother’s Instagram posts show her criticizing Lord Krishna, openly eating beef, challenging Sanatani people, supporting such people,” Mr. Sarma told reporters on the campaign trail. [jailed former Jawaharlal Nehru University students] Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid say Pakistan is not an enemy country.
However, Ms. Kunki Chowdhury, who is creating a wave among young voters, dismissed the chief minister’s accusations as baseless. Asserting that the BJP was confessing its defeat in central Guwahati seat by bringing such wild allegation, she said, “It has been just 15 days since I entered politics and the love and support I have received from people, they are visibly scared and sensing the defeat.”
“With the Prime Minister taking my name, now the whole of India will know who Kunki Chowdhury is,” he said in a video message posted on social media.
The mother also came out in defense of her daughter and asked the BJP to check the facts before making such statements. She rejected the accusation of supporting “anti-national elements” and underlined that her grandfather, Ari Bahadur Gurung, was a signatory to the Constitution as a representative of the Gorkha community. “My daughter is running for election by her own choice. I wonder why the Prime Minister drags ordinary people like us into such unfounded accusations. They should have checked the social media content they pointed to before making allegations.”
AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi said Sarma’s targeting of his candidates’ mother shows their desperation and inability to resist his popularity. AJP is part of the six-party alliance led by the Congress.
