Guwahati, Aug. 29 -- Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (A) chief Arshad Madani's claim of trying to persuade Congress leader Sonia Gandhi to decline election tickets to Himanta Biswa Sarma, has incurred a sharp rebuttal from the latter.

Madani said that he had requested Gandhi not to give an election ticket to Sarma (he was with the Congress then), reports NDTV.

Madani said he had warned the party leadership against the current Assam Chief Minister Sarma.

He alleged that Sarma had an "RSS mentality."

"I wrote to Sonia Gandhi asking her not to give a ticket to Himanta Biswa Sarma from Congress, as he had an RSS mentality. Now he is setting Assam on fire," Madani added.

However, Madani's statement opened a can of worms with the saffron party rebuffi...