New Delhi, 26 August (H.S.):

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday alleged that Congress leader Pawan Khera was rewarded with a Rajya Sabha seat for making false allegations against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his wife. He claimed that although the allegations backfired, Khera was still sent to the Rajya Sabha despite not being entitled to the position.

Rijiju made the allegation amid an ongoing war of words on social media. He said, “Two senior Congress leaders told me that Rahul Gandhi asked Pawan Khera to make false allegations against Himanta Biswa and Riniki ji (Himanta’s wife) at the last moment of the Assam elections. When those lies backfired, Khera was rewarded with a Rajya Sabha seat, which he did not deserve!”

The social media exchange between Congress leader Pawan Khera and Kiren Rijiju has been continuing since Sunday. The controversy began after Rijiju posted a video of himself swimming in a river in Arunachal Pradesh, following which Khera commented on the post, escalating the dispute.

On Tuesday, Rijiju had said that Pawan Khera was a first-term Rajya Sabha member nominated by his party and had contested elections eight times. However, he said, this did not give Khera the right to make “derogatory remarks.”

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar