Reacting to a widely shared video that showed him copying a note onto a visitors' logbook, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that he was trying to learn Hindi and English.
In the video, shared by a Twitter user Roshan Rai, CM Sarma was seen copying a paragraph from a notebook and writing in a visitors' logbook. A caption accompanying the video read: "Copy Paste BJP CM." Rai shared the video with a jibe: "Presenting the CM of Assam who can't even write a paragraph in a visitor's book without copying."
Reacting to it, CM Sarma said: "I went to an Assamese medium school and am trying my best to learn Hindi and English in my own humble way. I must admit that I do not know English and Hindi very well, and I have no hesitation in admitting it." His admittance to not knowing English and Hindi was lauded by many of his followers, who hailed the "courage" of the Assam CM to acknowledge his weakness and work on it.
However, some pointed out that Sarma was a PhD degree holder and was a practising advocate at the Gauhati High Court before he became an MLA. Rai, too, sought to dismiss Sarma's acknowledgement of not knowing English by sharing an old video in which the Assam CM can be seen fluently speaking in the language.
Rai further said: "Assamese is a beautiful language, the visitor's book would have looked much better with a note in Assamese. There was no compulsion of Writing it only in English or Hindi, but copying something is unbecoming of a leader of your stature. Leaders are meant to inspire innovation, not copy."
This comes just two days after Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal hit out at Himanta Biswa Sarma, saying he did not know Assamese culture. Kejriwal said: "Assamese people know how to treat people. They know hospitality. They don't threaten people with jail. I urge Himanta babu to learn some culture from the people." He also extended an invitation to Sarma for tea and lunch at his home.
The two CM's have been locked in a war of words since Kejriwal reportedly accused Sarma of corruption. Sarma, in response, called Kejriwal a "coward" who dared to speak only in assembly and not outside it. Later, Kejriwal raised the issue of unemployment and exam paper leaks in assam, to which Sarma replied that Kejriwal's claims were false and paper leak was reported from the AAP-led Punjab as well.