'We do not need Babri Masjid...': Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma slams Rahul Gandhi

Hitting out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks during his London visit, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said while he abused Indian Parliament on foreign soil, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praises his motherland wherever he goes.

Slamming Rahul Gandhi, Sarma further said that he will never be able to become prime minister until Narendra Modi is there. 

Speaking at a 'Vijay Sankalp' rally at Kanakagiri in poll-bound Karnataka, Sarma said, "We have to bring the Bharatiya Janata Party to power here. We do not need Babri Masjid anymore, we want Ram Janmabhoomi. Rahul Gandhi tried to defame India in London, but I want to him that 'you will never be able to become the PM until Modi ji is there," news agency ANI quoted Sarma as saying. 

 March 13, 2023

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Sarma's remark followed Rahul's recent lecture at the prestigious Cambridge University where he claimed that the basic structure of the Indian democracy was under attack.

"Everybody knows and it's been in the news a lot that Indian democracy is under pressure and under attack. I am an Opposition leader in India, we are navigating that (Opposition) space. The institutional framework which is required for a democracy -- Parliament, free press, the judiciary, just the idea of mobilisation, moving around -- all are being constrained. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy," the Congress MP alleged.

In a dig at the Congress leader, Sarma said Rahul came to Karnataka for 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' and then talked about 'Bharat Todo' (destroying India's image) in London."

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Urging the people of Karnataka to vote the BJP back to power in the upcoming Assembly elections, the Assam CM said under the leadership of PM Modi, the country will become a 'Visva Guru' (world leader). 

Karnataka is scheduled to go to polls before June, as the term of the 224-member Assembly is set to end on May 24. In the 2018 Assembly elections, BJP won 104 seats to emerge as the single largest party, while the Congress and JD(S) bagged 78 and 37 seats respectively.

While Congress and the JDS came together to form the government, the BJP later reclaimed the hustings after prising out several legislators from the ruling parties, thereby reducing the previous government to a minority.