Guwahati: In a faux pas of gigantic proportions, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma addressed Amit Shah as ‘Prime Minister’ and Narendra Modi as ‘my dear Home Minister’ at a public rally to mark the competition of one year in office of his government.
Biwsa Sarma, however, made no mistake in calling JP Nadda the BJP national president, as he thanked the trio for their guidance and inspiration.
The CM’s blunder has sparked off a political storm in Assam, with BJP maintaining that it was a ‘human error’ and the Opposition smelling conspiracy to ‘promote’ Shah as the next PM.
Watch the video clip shared by Congress on social media:
When @sarbanandsonwal Ji was the CM, MP @pallablochandas on several occasions referred to cabinet minister @himantabiswa ji as the CM in public!
Has #BJP decided its next @PMOIndia replacing @narendramodi Ji?
Or a campaign has been launched to promote @AmitShah ji as the PM? pic.twitter.com/BgqgbbajXC— Assam Congress (@INCAssam) May 10, 2022
The Congress questioned the “agenda” behind this interchange of designations of the BJP’s top two. The party referred to a similar ‘faux pas’ concerning Sarma and his predecessor Sarbananada Sonowal.
“When @sarbanandsonwal Ji was the CM, MP @pallablochandas on several occasions referred to cabinet minister @himantabiswa ji as the CM in public! Has #BJP decided its next @PMOIndia replacing @narendramodi Ji? Or a campaign has been launched to promote @AmitShah ji as the PM?” the Congress questioned.
Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) echoed Congress’ claim, saying that calling Shah prime minister was not a ‘slip of tongue but a strategy’.
“The main agenda behind such an address became clear later. So, in today’s context it is not hard to understand the agenda behind Chief Minister Sarma addressing the union home minister as prime minister by the chief minister,” said spokesperson Ziaur Rahman tweeted claiming that Sarma addressing Shah as prime minister is “not a slip of tongue but one of his strategy”.
He also recalled Biswa Sarma being addressed as ‘chief minister’ by a Lok Sabha MP and others towards the end of Sonowal government’s term in Assam.
BJP spokesperson Rupam Goswami rubbished the Opposition’s theory.
“It was a human error, just a slip of tongue. It can happen to anybody,” Goswami told PTI.
The “error” has not caused any “public damage or harmed the people of the state in any manner”, and even Modi and Shah are not angry over the issue.
