By Dr. Gyan Pathak
On the penultimate day of the Election campaign in Assam, Pakistan figured prominently. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said during a press conference that in the last 10 days, a Pakistani channel has done at least 11 talk shows regarding the election in Assam. He also said that such a thing never happened earlier, adding “in every talk show, the conclusion is that Congress should win.”
Election campaign in the state is going to end tomorrow on April 7, 2026, and poll is scheduled on April 9. What triggered him to say this was the two press conferences by the Congress, one in Delhi by Congress leader and party’s national spokesperson Pawan Khera and another by Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi in Guwahati on April 5.
Pawan Khera alleged at the press conference that Sarma’s wife Rinki Bhuyan holds three passports of the UAE, Antigua-Barbuda and Egypt, which expire on March 2027, August 2031 and February 2029, respectively. Gogoi in Guwahati said that holding multiple passports and failure to disclose properties is a grave and criminal offence.
Before going further into the details of the current issue, we must recall that Sarma had released findings from a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe in February 2026 alleging that Gaurav Gogoi, his British wife, Elizabeth Colburn Gogoi, and a Pakistani national, Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, share “deep links”.
The Jorhat MP Gaurav Gogoi had slammed Chief Minister Sarma for disclosing information about his children, and said “He went to such a low level that he even disclosed information relating to my children. We also know about his children; everyone knows it, but we don’t want to disclose it. He has proved that he is not the right person to be in the Chief Minister’s chair. What they are saying has shamed Assam. Why are they spreading false information? The Supreme Court should take a suo-motu case against it.”
Gaurav had refuted the charge levelled against him and said the SIT has not produced any evidence of “deep links”. He had earlier alleged that Chief Minister Sarma’s family illegally held 12,000 bighas (nearly 4,000 acres) of land across Assam, and said that Sarma’s allegation came after that.
CM Sarma has now said in the press conference that the press conferences of Congress leaders Khera and Gogoi have “Pakistan’s link to which has now become very, very apparent. I am sure that this will be taken into consideration by the law enforcement agency.”
CM Sarma said that his wife has got an FIR registered over allegations by Congress leaders. He also accused the Congress of using fabricated documents to influence outcome of the upcoming state elections and warned of “life imprisonment” for the same.
Khera had alleged that Sarma’s wife Rinki Bhuyan has undisclosed business interests abroad and has properties in Dubai and companies in the United States linked to the Chief Minister’s family.
Sarma has categorically denied the allegations, stating that one of the passports cited was “fake” and flagged discrepancies in the documents. He asserted that confirmations from Dubai authorities and the Indian government indicated that the passport in question was not genuine.
The chairman of AICC’s media publicity and communication Pawan Khera had also alleged that Sarma’s wife has ”two properties in Dubai which clearly mentioned Rinki Bhuyan Sarma as the property owner” but neither were mentioned in the CM’s affidavits submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI) along with his nomination paper.
CM Sarma said today in his press conference that the documents mentioned by the Congress leaders were fabricated and were supplied by a Pakistani social media group.
CM Sarma said that the original UAE passport — which Pawan Khera showed as Rinki Bhuyan’s — was uploaded on social media by a Pakistani man. “They (Congress) did AI Photoshop in the passport. Tipu Sultan had uploaded the original passport on social media. The Egyptian passport is also fake. You can find out through Google Reverse.
Sarma has also said that taking help from Pakistan to defame him is “a crime against the nation”.
Thus at the fag end of election campaign in Assam, the name of Pakistan forms a dominant part. The names of Bangladesh and Bangladeshi infiltrators in the state has already been part of election campaigns. Both are being used along with ‘Muslim Miyan’ narrative being pushed by CM Sarma connecting them to Congress.
Congress on the other hand has raised the issue of the BJP leader Sarma and his wife’s foreign properties and passports and demanded investigation. Congress has also raised corruption charges against Sarma. The issues Congress has raised are likely to puncture BJP’s narrative of nationalism and champion of anti-corruption as well as Assamese identity politics of Himanta.
The election campaign in the state has thus come far away from the real issues that the people of Assam have been undergoing which include unemployment, well-being and lack of development. It has been communalised and voters are polarised. The current controversy at the fag end of the election campaign is going to escalate the trend. (IPA Service)
