Pakistan link: Himanta-Gaurav spat intensifies

Assam CM accuses Congress MP of Pakistan links, sparking political controversy and allegations of anti-India activities.

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