Congress MP Abdul Khaleque claimed on Twitter that Argentinian football legend Lionel Messi was born in Assam. However, he deleted the tweet later. Khaleque represents the Barpeta constituency of Assam in the Lok Sabha, according to India Today.
Taking to Twitter, the MP, while congratulating Messi for Argentina's win at the Qatar World Cup, he wrote, “Congratulations from the core of my heart. We are proud of you for your Assam Connection.” (sic)
When asked about this Assam connection by a Twitter user Aditya Sharma, Khaleque replied, “Yes, he was born in Assam.”
Moments after realising his folly, the MP deleted the tweet.
Netizens were quick enough to react to the now-deleted tweet and one of the users wrote, “Yes sir, he was my classmate."