A Congress MP from Assam first congratulated Argentine football star Lionel Messi after the FIFA World Cup win against France yesterday and then praised the 35-year-old footballer for his "Assam connection".
"Congratulations from the core of heart. We are proud of you for your Assam connection," Congress MP Abdul Khaleque tweeted.
A Twitter user, Aditya Sharma, puzzled by the MP's claim, questioned him. "Assam connection?" Mr Sharma tweeted.
assam connection?
— Aditya Sharma (@strangecrickkk) December 19, 2022The Congress leader replied, "Yes, he was born in Assam."
The Lionel Messi's "Assam connection" tweet by Congress MP Abdul Khaleque before he deleted it
After getting fact-checked by more Twitter users, the MP deleted the tweet. Mr Khaleque asked people to check his social media handles and not to spread rumours.
"Before spreading rumour, I request all to check timeline of my Twitter handle and official Facebook page," he tweeted.
However, many had taken screenshots of the tweet by then.
The original tweet by the Congress MP to which a puzzled Mr Sharma had asked the question about Lionel Messi's "Assam connection" was "deleted by the tweet author", says a message that appears instead of the tweet now.
This morning, Lionel Messi and his teammates set off for Argentina with the most coveted prize in football as millions of compatriots waited to welcome them home and catch a glimpse of the World Cup trophy.
AdvertisementIn the capital Buenos Aires and throughout the country, millions took to the streets to celebrate Sunday's remarkable penalty shoot-out victory over France in the World Cup final in Qatar.
Lionel Messi finally crowned his record-breaking career with the one trophy that was missing as he produced a performance that will go down in World Cup history, scoring a first-half penalty and netting again in extra time.
