Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s claim about state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi being a “100 per cent Pakistani agent” has seen the latter respond by asserting that Sarma was “unfit” to lead the state.
“Over the past few months Himanta Biswa Sarma dangoriya has lost credibility. Yesterday, when the entire state was watching Zubeen Garg perform for the last time in Roi Roi Binale, the chief minister’s comments showed his growing fear of losing power,” Gogoi posted on X on Saturday.
“It was another example of why he is unfit as the chief minister of the people of Assam,” Gogoi said in reaction to Sarma’s claim made on Friday.
Sarma has been accusing Gogoi of having links with Pakistan since February this year, three months before the latter was appointed as the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee’s president.
Sarma’s claim and Gogoi’s response come amid the growing demand for justice in the untimely death of singer-composer Zubeen Garg in Singapore on September 19. The demand has only grown stronger following the release of Zubeen’s last film — Roi Roi Binale — on Friday.
Sarma had claimed on Friday: “Gaurav Gogoi is a purely Pakistan agent. I am saying this as a chief minister. If he has the guts, let him file a defamation case against me. The evidence I have, and the day I show it to you (the media), you will know he is a 100 per cent Pakistani agent. He is planted by (a) foreign power in our country.”
The chief minister added: “Had there not been an election (in 2026) in the state, I would have dealt more sternly with the issue...”
Sarma claimed that he will “move on” to Gogoi’s case after ensuring justice is done in the Garg’s death case by the first half of December.
He added: “I am not holding a press meet because people will say I am trying to divert attention from the Zubeen issue. After providing justice to Zubeen, I will deal with this (Gaurav) issue.”
The Assam cabinet had in February directed the state police chief to register a case against an “influential” Pakistani national, Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, and carry out an “extensive inquiry” to ascertain whether his activities “are part of a larger conspiracy (against India) and to identify any sympathisers or associates within Assam and across India who may be aiding Sheikh’s anti-India agenda”.
The cabinet decision, announced by Sarma, assumed significance because the cabinet resolution flagged Sheikh’s alleged link with Elizabeth Gogoi, a British national and wife of three-term MP Gogoi.
Gogoi has described the allegations as a “B-grade movie script” which would
fall flat.
The SIT submitted its report on September 10, but it has not been made public yet. Gogoi once again reminded media persons that the chief minister has missed the September 10 deadline of revealing everything about Gogoi. Sarma’s claim has also raised questions, with Congressmen asking that if he has the evidence, why is he allowing Gogoi to roam free?
An apparently unruffled Congress, in a Facebook post on Saturday, expressed concern over a cabinet colleague of Sarma, whose name is doing the rounds for allegedly encroaching on a plot of land adjacent to the Zubeen Kshetra at Sonapur, where the singer-composer was cremated.