The Assam unit of the Congress has “advised” BJP national president J.P. Nadda to brush up on his knowledge of history and use Google to know what the Opposition party has been doing for the coronavirus-hit in the state.

The trigger for the sharp retort by the Assam PCC was Nadda’s “political tourists” jibe at the Opposition leaders and their “no-show during the second wave of the pandemic” while addressing the working committee meeting of the state BJP unit through the virtual mode on Tuesday.

Nadda asserted that the claim he made during his campaigns for the recent Assembly elections about the Opposition leaders acting as “political tourists” had come true. They are only seen during elections, he said.

Condemning Nadda’s remark, Assam PCC president and Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora said on Wednesday that such a “denigrating” statement against an Opposition party was not expected of such a senior leader.

Bora invoked India’s political history to “remind” Nadda that the BJP was born in 1980 and the Congress in 1885.

“How can a party that has been in existence for 136 years, that brought freedom for its people from British domination and that ruled India and contributed towards nation building be termed a party of ‘political tourists’? We were in power in the state till 2016. I advise Naddaji to brush up on his history” Bora said.

The Congress MP added: “Does it also mean that wherever the BJP lost elections — in Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu — their leaders have become political tourists? Just because our party lost the elections in Assam, one cannot pass derogatory remarks like that.”

PCC president Ripun Bora distribute relief during the pandemic Telegraph picture

The BJP and its allies were re-elected for the second straight term in the Assembly polls.

The remarks on “political tourists” and “Opposition no-show during the pandemic” were mentioned in the salient points of Nadda’s speech released by the BJP’s central office in Delhi on Tuesday.

“During the second wave of the pandemic, neither the Congress party nor Badruddin Ajmal and his party were seen helping the poor and affected people. The reality is that both the parties have nothing to do with welfare and betterment of the people of Assam. They just want votes of the people of Assam. My words have again proved to be correct that they are just political tourists,” Nadda had said.

Bora asked where the BJP leaders were when floods ravaged Assam in 2017 and 2018.

“While Prime Minister Narendra Modi could take out time to visit Assam umpteenth times for electioneering, couldn’t he find time to be near the people of the state during the floods? People know what we are doing and whether we are with them,” Bora said.

Assam PCC media department chairperson Bobbeeta Sharma on Monday released photographs of PCC leaders and members distributing relief across the state. “ If they want to know what we did, they can simply Google or check our leaders’ Twitter handles,” Sharma told The Telegraph.

The Congress also used the opportunity to highlight the BJP-led Centre’s “faulty” Covid management policy, especially the shortage of vaccines. “People in Assam are suffering for want of vaccines due to the Centre’s faulty Covid policy. Today, 50 per cent of the Covid vaccine centres are shut. Recently, police had to resort to lathicharge at inoculation centres after people became restive over vaccine shortage,” Bora said.

He advised Nadda against discussing about the Congress in virtual meetings and instead ensure the safety of the people of Assam by making vaccines available. “Longer the delay, the greater is the threat to people’s lives,” Bora added.

Till Thursday, there were 24,390 active Covid cases in Assam and five districts were under lockdown. Since last year, 511,153 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the state and 4,577 have died.