Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma mocked Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi as "Amul babies", saying people in the state would rather see the "tigers and rhinos in Kaziranga" than watch the siblings at their election campaign events.
"Why would the people of Assam go to see the Gandhi family's 'Amul babies'? They would rather go to Kaziranga and look at the tigers and rhinos," he told reporters on Tuesday.
When a reporter asked him on Priyanka Gandhi's campaign event in Jorhat with Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on Monday, the Chief Minister said, "Nothing important... Only about 2,000-3,000 people were in attendance as far as I know."
"Who will come to see Priyanka Gandhi? People will instead go to Kaziranga to see the tigers and rhinos. This would be more useful to their time," he noted.
Sarma also asked if there were any benefits to seeing the Gandhi family and said the siblings were "Amul babies".
"They only look appropriate for an Amul campaign. So these are Amul babies. Instead of going to see an Amul baby, go see a rhino, it would be more beneficial."
As Assam celebrated Bohag Bihu on Monday, Priyanka Gandhi campaigned for MP Gaurav Gogoi, the Congress candidate from the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat, in the city of Jorhat.
In a social media post, she said it was "time take a resolution to remove the government which is attacking your culture and heritage and bring in a government which will protect your culture, provide employment to your children and strengthen women, tribals, Dalits, backward classes and minorities".
Himanta Biswa Sarma's latest potshot at Congress leaders came just days after he criticised Gaurav Gogoi for offering namaz on the occasion of Eid in Sibasagar.
"On the day of Pran Pratishta, Gaurav Gogoi was breaking the law and protesting in the streets of Nagaon with Rahul Gandhi... The respect towards Eid, should be the same towards the Ram Mandir also," he told reporters last week.
