Dibisa, daughter of Assam Revenue and Disaster Management Minister and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) leader Keshab Mahanta, joined the NEET protesters.
A protest in Assam’s Guwahati over alleged irregularities in examinations and demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan took a political turn after Dibisa, the daughter of Assam Revenue and Disaster Management Minister and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) leader Keshab Mahanta, joined the demonstration.
Videos were widely shared on social media, which allegedly show Dibisa participating in the protest and raising slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi while demanding Pradhan’s resignation.
HT was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the clips.
Assam CM reacts
However, the videos sparked political reactions in the state, with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma coming out in support of his cabinet colleague on Sunday.
Sarma said Keshab Maanta should not be attacked or defamed over his daughter’s participation in the protest, arguing that adult children can have political beliefs different from those of their parents.
“I don’t think we should attack or criticize Keshab Mahanta over his daughter’s protest. She may not follow her father’s political ideology. Tomorrow, when my son will practice law, he may defend someone I may not like,” Sarma was quoted as saying by PTI.
“I will talk to her about it,” says Sarma.
The Prime Minister said it would be unfair to hold parents responsible for the political choices or public actions of their adult children. He added that once children grow up, they have the right to make their own decisions and those decisions should not be tied to their parents.
Meanwhile, Sarma said he disagreed with the slogans raised by Dibisa during the protest. He said he would talk to her personally the next time they met.
He said, “I do not agree with the slogans she raised. When I meet her next time, I will definitely talk to her and try to make her understand that what she said was not true.”
The protest was organized in Guwahati over alleged irregularities in examinations and demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
There was no immediate reaction from Keshab Mahanta on the issue. Attempts to contact the Assam minister to get his response failed, news agency PTI reported.
(with PTI inputs)
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