Himanta says he will file defamation case against Rahul over his 'Adani' tweet
The Hindu
“Whatever Rahul Gandhi tweeted, it’s defamatory.”
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said he will file a defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over a tweet that linked him to the Adani group.
Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Sarma said the defamation case will be filed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Guwahati on April 14.
"Whatever Rahul Gandhi tweeted, it's defamatory. We will respond after the PM leaves the state," he said.
"Definitely, a defamation case will be filed in Guwahati," he added.
Mr. Gandhi on Saturday took a swipe at some leaders who have quit the Congress in recent years and some of whom have joined the BJP as he kept up his offensive against the government over the Adani issue.
"They hide the truth, that's why they mislead everyday! The question remains the same - whose ₹20,000 crore benami money is in Adani's companies?" Mr. Gandhi asked in a tweet in Hindi, sharing an image with 'Adani' written as an acronym of sorts with letters of the names of the leaders.
He cited the names of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Kiran Kumar Reddy and Anil K. Antony in his tweet. After quitting the Congress, Azad formed his own party, while the rest joined the BJP. Mr. Scindia is now a Union minister and Mr. Sarma the chief minister of Assam.
While residents are worried over deaths due to diarrhoea in Vijayawada, officials still grapple to find the root cause. Contaminated drinking water supplied by VMC officials is the reason, insist people in the affected areas, but officials insist that efforts are on to identify the disease and that those with symptoms other than diarrhoea too are visiting the health camps.