On Monday (December 19), Congress MP Abdul Khaleque claimed on Twitter that the Argentinian football legend Lionel Messi was born in the Assam State of India.
Khaleque represents the Barpeta constituency of Assam in the Lok Sabha. He took to Twitter to make these bizarre assertions, following the victory of Argentina against France in the FIFA World Cup Final.
“#Messi Congratulations from the core of heart. We are proud of you for your Assam connection,” he had tweeted.
On being quizzed about his post by a Twitter user named Aditya Sharma, the Congress leader claimed, “Yes, he was born in Assam.” The tweets have now been deleted.
As expected, his outlandish claims drew widespread ridicule on social media. “Yes sir, he was my classmate,” one Twitter user took potshots at the Assam MP.
“After the world cup, Messi and his wife visited Assam…Never forget where you come from,” tweeted another user.
Another Twitter user posted a picture of Lionel Messi with the caption, “I learnt today that I was born in Assam.”
“First I thought it was just another social media joke but after checking bio…”, one user expressed doubt on the intelligence of the Congress leader.
Earlier, a Trinamool Congress spokesperson named Riju Dutta likened the victory of Argentina in the FIFA World Cup Final to that of his political party.
In a tweet, he wrote, “Ei joy sudhu Argentina r jai noi, eta Maa Mati Manusher jai…Jai Bangla (This is just not the victory of Argentina but of Trinamool Congress… Hail Bengal).”
It must be mentioned that Maa Mati Manush (Mother, land and people) is one of the official slogans of the Trinamool Congress. Following social media mockery, Riju Dutta was quick to delete the tweet, just like Khaleque.