Gaurav Gogoi Takes on Assam CM Himanta Sarma Over 'Pak Links' Allegations
In a fiery counterattack, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi has accused Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of "revealing his own weakness" and demonstrating why he is "not fit for the chair" following allegations about Gogoi's purported links to Pakistan. The political confrontation escalated dramatically as Gogoi held a press conference in Guwahati, directly responding to Sarma's extensive press briefing the previous day.
Questioning the Timing of SIT Report Release
The controversy centers around a Special Investigation Team (SIT) that Chief Minister Sarma constituted in February 2025 to probe allegations that Gogoi and his wife Elizabeth Colburn Gogoi had worked against national interests and maintained connections with Pakistan. The SIT submitted its findings to the Cabinet on September 10, 2025, but the report remained undisclosed for approximately six months until Sarma's recent press conference.
"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?" Gogoi demanded during his press briefing. He suggested that the timing of the report's release was politically motivated rather than driven by genuine security concerns.
Allegations of Political Motivation
Gogoi asserted that the Chief Minister had been reluctant to make the SIT report public because it failed to substantiate his earlier claims. "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," the Congress MP stated.
According to Gogoi, Sarma was compelled to address the issue only after the Congress party launched a campaign highlighting alleged land acquisitions involving the Chief Minister's family and corporate entities. "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.
Contradictions in Allegations
Gogoi pointed to what he described as inconsistencies in Sarma's accusations over time. "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," Gogoi detailed.
The Congress MP explained that his 2013 visit to Pakistan was simply to accompany his then newlywed wife on a work trip, as she had previously worked at a think tank in Pakistan during 2011-2012. He questioned why the SIT had never approached him directly for clarification. "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," Gogoi asserted.
Allegations of Personal Attacks
The political confrontation took an intensely personal turn when Gogoi accused Sarma of crossing ethical boundaries by revealing information about his young children. During his Sunday press conference, Sarma had displayed purported passport photos of Gogoi's five- and nine-year-old children and questioned their nationality and faith.
"He has gone so low that he revealed personal information about my five- and nine-year-old children, which is not legally allowed," Gogoi declared. "We will surely explore our options to pursue action under Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act with our legal cell in Delhi."
Broader Political Implications
Gogoi framed the confrontation as emblematic of broader political differences between the Congress and the ruling party in Assam. "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," he stated, adding that Sarma's conduct had repeatedly embarrassed ordinary Assamese citizens.
The Congress MP also invoked his political lineage, referencing his father, the late former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, and the historical figure Lachit Borphukan, a famed Ahom general. "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 lineage," Gogoi declared defiantly.
He contrasted his political motivations with those he attributed to Sarma. "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," Gogoi stated, while defending his wife's professional background and their family arrangements.
The escalating political confrontation between Assam's ruling party and the opposition Congress highlights the increasingly polarized political climate in the state, with national security allegations being weaponized in what appears to be an intensifying political battle ahead of future electoral contests.
