‘Thought of himself as Chanakya, exposed his weakness’: Gaurav Gogoi takes the fight to Himanta

Pointing at the lapse of time since then, Gogoi asked, “If this is such an important issue, one which is closely linked to matters of national security, why did he sit on it for six months?”

“The Chief Minister did not want to reveal the SIT report… He earlier said he would release it on September 10. But when he saw the SIT, he did not find proof of any of the things he had been saying, about training in Pakistan, ISI links, that I’m a Pakistan agent,” he said.

“But he was compelled to release it because the Congress has begun showing people how his family has captured 12,000 bighas of land in the state and that 40,000 bighas of land from tribal areas have been given to Adani, Ambani and Patanjali,” he alleged, referring to a campaign the state Congress began last week.

“We actually wanted it (the report) to be released… What did the press conference expose? He thinks of himself as a great Chanakya. But it revealed his weakness, the weakness of his information. Earlier, he said I went to Pakistan for 15 days; yesterday, he said I went there for 10. He earlier said I had gone when I was an MP without informing the government of India; now he’s saying I went before becoming an MP,” he said.

Questioning the nature of a 10-day visit to Pakistan that Gogoi made in 2013 with his wife, who worked in a think tank there in 2011-2012, Sarma had said that unless Gogoi “clarifies” what he did there, “we have to infer that he was in a training camp”.

Saying that he accompanied his then newlywed wife on a work trip, Gogoi questioned why the SIT had not just asked him directly. “The SIT did not come to me even once to ask me this question that the CM has been asking frantically… Because they would have to include what I said in the report, and this drama would have anticlimactically ended there,” he said.

During the course of Sunday’s press conference, Sarma had also shared purported photos of the passports of Gogoi’s two children, and called their nationality and faith into question.

“He has gone so low that he revealed personal information about my five- and nine-year-old children, which is not legally allowed… We will surely explore our options to pursue action under Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act with our legal cell in Delhi,” said Gogoi.

“All the people of Assam have been able to see again why Himanta Biswa Sarma is not fit to sit on the chair of the Chief Minister of Assam… Time and again, his words and behaviour have embarrassed the ordinary people of Assam. One after the other, across the country, people are filing cases against him. Why? The way in which he behaves towards a particular community, the kind of videos that he shares through Twitter, is completely illegal, and the Supreme Court, the Chief Secretary, and the DGP should take cognisance and file a suo motu case,” he said.

Invoking his father and former Assam CM, the late Tarun Gogoi, he said that he “does not fear” attacks against himself.

“Be it politically or through your goons, do as many attacks as you want against me. I have the strength to bear it. I am the late Tarun Gogoi’s son, from Lachit’s (famed Ahom general) lineage. But if there are attacks on our Congress workers, if there are attacks on Indian citizens in Assam, if you say things to spread violence in society, put such videos on social media, then I will be after you till the end, I will not let it go,” he said.

“Our politics is different from that of Himanta Biswa Sarma. I did not enter politics to open resorts and channels in my family’s name. My wife is doing her own job; she has left her country and is running our household in India… She is the mother of my children, and she is raising them. As politicians, we all stay away from our families. I barely saw my father when I was a child. He was among the people… I was raised by my mother… In that way, my wife is raising my children, and till they turn 18, their responsibilities, their life decisions, I have left to their mother,” he said.