Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday once alleged that Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi is a "Pakistani agent" who has been "planted by foreign powers", as he dared the grand old party's state unit chief to file a defamation case against him if the allegations against him are false.
Sarma, a former Congress leader, made the remarks while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme in Guwahati.
"Gaurav Gogoi is a Pakistani agent, he is purely that. He has been planted by foreign power in our country," Sarma was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. "The day I show the evidence, everybody will say that he is 100 per cent a Pakistani agent."
Gogoi hits back
A day after Sarma's allegations, Gogoi has hit back at the Assam chief minister and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has lost his credibility. In a post on X (which was previously called Twitter), Gogoi said Sarma's Friday's remarks show why he is 'unfit' to continue as chief minister of the northeast state.
"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," the Deputy Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha said. "It was another example of why he is unfit as the Chief Minister of the people of Assam."
Sarma's allegations against Gogoi
Sarma and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have consistently alleged that Gogoi has links with Pakistan through his British wife, Elizabeth Colburn Gogoi. Earlier this month, Sarma also tabled a Special Investigation Team (SIT) report in the Assam cabinet over Gogoi's alleged links with Pakistan. He had said that the report will soon be made public.
However, Gogoi has denied having any links to Pakistan and claimed that the SIT probe is politically motivated. Although he has accepted that he visited Pakistan in 2013.
