Assam Cabinet minister Ashok Singhal
Credit: X/@TheAshokSinghal
Guwahati: The use of 'gobi farming' imagery by an Assam Cabinet minister after Bihar poll results has evoked sharp criticism from opposition, who are alleging that it is an apparent reference to the Bhagalpur communal riots.
They have questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over the matter, maintaining that it is a 'new low in political discourse'.
Assam Cabinet minister Ashok Singhal, in a post on X on Friday afternoon, had shared a photograph of cauliflower farming with the caption "Bihar approves Gobi farming".
Hitting out on Singhal, state Congress president and party's deputy leader in Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi wrote on X, "The use of 'gobi farming' imagery by a sitting cabinet minister of Assam in the wake of the Bihar election results marks a shocking new low in political discourse. It is both vulgar and shameful."
He maintained that the image is "widely associated with the Logain massacre of 1989, where 116 Muslims were killed and their bodies concealed under cauliflower plantations during the Bhagalpur violence".
"To invoke such a tragedy in this manner shows how far some are willing to descend in public life," Gogoi said.
He alleged that such a mindset is promoted by Chief Minister Sarma who has "a hatred for Indian minorities".
"This is not what Assam is. Assam is the land of Mahapurush Sankardev, Lachit Borphukan and Azaan Pir," the Congress leader asserted.
"And next year the people of Assam will end the rule of hate and greed," he added, alluding to the coming Assembly election.
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale, in a post on X, claimed that such posts have the approval of the prime minister.
"Gobi farming" refers to glorifying the mass killing of Muslims in Bhagalpur, Bihar, in 1989. A cauliflower farm was planted on the graves to hide evidence," he alleged.
Emphasising that it was a "Modi's BJP Minister from Assam" who shared the photograph, Gokhale added, "Not some fringe element. Clearly, @PMOIndia approves this. The world should know."