Congress MP Abdul Khaleque tweeted that Argentinian football great Lionel Messi was born in Assam.
Khaleque, who represents the Barpeta constituency of Assam in the Lok Sabha, later deleted the tweet.
The MP, while congratulating Messi for Argentina's win at the Qatar World Cup on Twitter, 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.”
Netizens were quick enough to react and one user wrote, “Yes sir, he was my classmate."
Messi ended his long wait for the World Cup title in one of the most memorable finals in history.
Messi was at his most inspirational, scoring two goals to take his total for the tournament to seven and delivering his country's third World Cup triumph as Argentina beat France 4-2 on penalties after a 3-3 draw through extra time.
But Kylian Mbappe made him work hard for the trophy he has long craved by scoring a hat trick, including two goals in 97 seconds late in regulation to pull France back from 2-0 down.
The France forward evened the score again after Messi put Argentina back in front in extra time.
Ultimately, it was Messi's World Cup to raise.
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