It appears there is no finish to the dogfight between Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. A brand new chapter was added to the years-old feud after a video from Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Nyay Yatra went viral on Monday.
Himanta used the video to lash out at his bete noire, Rahul Gandhi. This comes after Rahul Gandhi’s ‘under the belt’ remarks made it private for Himanta. These assaults and counter-attacks got here because the Nyay Yatra was passing by means of Assam lately.
Amid all of the political rigidity, it needs to be borne in thoughts that Rahul Gandhi is a canine lover. Like most canine dad and mom, Rahul has by no means shied away from displaying his love for his pet ‘Pidi’. At instances on the mistaken time.
The most recent chapter of the years-old dogged confrontation got here with a contemporary biscuit chapter.
BJP leaders posted a video of Rahul Gandhi with a canine on an open sports activities utility automobile throughout his yatra. Within the clip, Rahul Gandhi is seen providing a biscuit to a person after it has been rejected by the canine. The person who was provided the dog-rejected biscuit was a Congress supporter who got here to attend Rahul’s rally.
BISCUIT AS A SYMBOL OF SYCOPHANCY
The standard biscuit quickly turned an emblem of sycophancy as BJP leaders recounted previous incidents. Each Himanta and Shehzad stated they refused to be sycophants, not like the opposite Congressmen, and stop the social gathering. They held their self-respect excessive.
They used the incident from Rahul’s yatra to slam the Congress and its “shameful culture of treating everyone like slaves and dogs of the first family”.
“This is why nobody with self-respect can stay in Congress”, BJP Nationwide Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla wrote on X, reacting to the video.
Co-convenor of BJP Mumbai Pallavi CT shared the video and alluded to the incident when Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, then with the Congress, went to satisfy Rahul Gandhi.
“How shameless. First, Rahul Gandhi made Himanta Biswa Sarma eat biscuits from the same plate as his pet dog, Pidi. Then Congress President Kharge compares party workers to dogs, and now, ‘Shehzada’ gives a biscuit rejected by a dog to a party worker”, wrote Pallavi CT on X.
“If a party whose president and crown prince treats its party workers like dogs, then it is natural for such a party to disappear”, wrote BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya on X.
“This is the respect they have for their party workers, supporters & voters”, Pallavi added additional.
Pallavi CT and Shehzad Poonawalla clearly linked the “shameful” act of Rahul Gandhi and talked about the Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of being vindicated by Rahul Gandhi and his Congress social gathering.
HIMANTA AND RAHUL’S ‘DOGFIGHT’
Himanta Biswa Sarma had repeatedly shared and referred to the incident associated to Rahul Gandhi’s pet canine, Pidi, when he visited the Congress chief in New Delhi in 2016.
Himanta, then in Congress, accompanied by social gathering leaders CP Joshi, Tarun Gogoi, after which Assam state chief Anjan Dutta had gone to the residence of Rahul Gandhi to debate some essential social gathering points.
The Congress’s Assam unit was going by means of a bitter inner feud at the moment.
“Rahul Gandhi’s pet dog Pidi came in during this meeting and took a biscuit from a plate served to the guests, along with tea. I was shocked to see this,” Himanta stated in regards to the incident throughout an interview in Could 2016.
“Rahul, having not asked the servers to change the plate of biscuits for a fresh one, made me say Thank You very much for the opportunity,” Sarma added.
This was the beginning of the ‘canine story’ between Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and Himanta Biswa Sarma, who went on to hitch the BJP and change into the chief minister of Assam in 2021.
RAHUL GANDHI AND HIS PIDI
Pidi, Rahul’s pet, was to make extra appearances sooner or later.
Responding to a query in 2017, Rahul Gandhi, then Congress vice-president, stated “It’s Pidi” who tweets on his behalf.
“It’s me, Pidi. I’m way cooler (a smiley) than him (Rahul Gandhi). Look what I can do with a tweet..oops..treat!”, Rahul Gandhi posted on X together with a video of a treat-trick by Pidi.
Reacting to this, Himanta Biswa Sarma, who by then had left the Congress, reminded Rahul Gandhi of his Pidi distraction.
“Who knows him (Pidi) better than me? Still, remember you were busy feeding biscuits to him while we wanted to discuss urgent Assam’s issues,” Himanta Biswa Sarma posted on X.
Himanta Biswa Sarma, in 2022, once more referred to the 2016 incident to slam Rahul Gandhi after he accused House Minister Amit Shah of “indecency” within the Lok Sabha.
“Mr Rahul Gandhi, those who prefer to feed biscuits to dogs in the presence of leaders from Assam and then offer them the same biscuits should be the last people to talk about political decency,” Himanta wrote on X in 2022.
On Monday, Himanta replied to Pallavi CT’s put up and reminded her and everybody of how he refused to simply accept the biscuit.
“Pallavi ji, not only Rahul Gandhi but the entire family could not make me eat that biscuit. I am a proud Assamese and Indian. I refused to eat [the biscuit] and resign from the Congress,” Himanta Biswa Sarma on X.
RAHUL GANDHI’S LOVE FOR DOGS
Like most canine dad and mom, Rahul Gandhi has by no means shied away from displaying his love for his pet, Pidi, and different canines. His love for canines is not only a personal matter however one thing that has been shared with the general public on numerous events.
On Nationwide Pet Day 2021, Rahul Gandhi took to social media to share a throwback image from his childhood, the place he was seen alongside his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, strolling their pet canines.
Again in August 2023, Rahul Gandhi introduced with him a three-month-old Jack Russell Terrier pet from Goa to New Delhi. Whereas Rahul Gandhi introduced one pet dwelling, he chosen one other one to be despatched to him later.
Gandhi was busy enjoying with canines throughout his go to to the shelter dwelling, based on Shivani Pitre of the canine kennel in Goa’s Mapusa city.
The pet was later gifted to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi by Rahul Gandhi and was named Noorie.
Lots of people relate to their love for animals, particularly canines. Nonetheless, the timing of the show of that love is essential.
Else, like within the case of Monday’s incident, the standard biscuit may very well be alleged to have change into an emblem of sycophancy and are available again to chew.