Pakistan link: Himanta-Gaurav spat intensifies

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. File | Photo Credit: PTI

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Wednesday (May 28, 2025), fired another salvo at MP and newly anointed State Congress president Gaurav Gogoi after the latter said he visited Pakistan once.

Also read | ‘Startling confession’ by Congress leader on Gaurav Gogoi’s wife being on Pak govt ‘payroll’: Himanta

Mr. Gogoi said he went to Pakistan in 2013 to meet his British wife, Elizabeth Colburn, who worked on an international project on climate change in the neighbouring country. Her work was not related to espionage or intelligence gathering, he insisted.

“They (Bharatiya Janata Party) are making an issue out of it, which is like a script of a C-grade Bollywood movie,” he said, adding that the Assam Chief Minister “has this old habit of deceiving people”.

Asserting the citizenship of his wife and children are “personal matters”, Mr. Gogoi took a jibe at Mr. Sarma by referring to his claim that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi used a body double for his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in 2024. “I believe he thinks I have a body double, too,” he said.

Hitting back, Mr. Sarma said the Congress MP representing eastern Assam’s Jorhat constituency “has finally admitted” that he visited Pakistan.

Also read | Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi met Pakistan Army official, says Assam CM

“But let us be very clear; this is just the beginning, not the end. What lies ahead is far more serious. There exists every reasonable ground, supported by credible inputs and documented information, to suggest that Shri Gogoi has maintained proximity with the Pakistani establishment,” he posted on X.

He later told journalists that Mr. Gogoi and his wife were “deeply involved in anti-India activities” and what the Congress MP has revealed “is only 10%” of what is known and would be disclosed after the Special Investigation Team completes its inquiry by September.

“We will release every document, every proof we have. The people of Assam and India deserve to know the truth,” the Chief Minister said.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and former State party president, Ripun Bora, said he received a notice from the Crime Investigation Department for “countering the false allegations of the Chief Minister” about Mr. Gogoi’s Pakistan links.

“This is an attempt to harass me, intimidate me, and suppress my voice. But as a law-abiding citizen, I have decided to appear before CM’s Vigilance. If they send me to jail, I am ready to go to jail,” he said.

Published - May 28, 2025 09:03 pm IST