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Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday levelled one of his sharpest political attacks yet, claiming that state Congress president and Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi is “a Pakistani agent, planted by foreign power”. The comment marks a dramatic escalation in an already bitter rivalry between the two leaders, ahead of a politically charged winter session and a series of by-elections in the Northeast.

 

Speaking to reporters in Guwahati, Sarma said, “Gaurav Gogoi is a Pakistani agent, he is purely that. He has been planted by foreign power in our country.” He further asserted that he possessed proof to support his claim. “The day I show the evidence, everybody will say that he is 100 per cent a Pakistani agent,” the chief minister said.

 

The chief minister dared the Congress leader to pursue legal action if he believed the allegations were baseless. “If the allegations are false, he should file a defamation case against me,” Sarma added.

 

Sarma said he would make the purported evidence public only after the ongoing investigation into the death of singer Zubeen Garg concludes. “I am not convening a press conference now to share the evidence, as some will say the Zubeen Garg issue is being diverted,” he said.

 

Also read: Zubeen Garg’s final film witnesses massive turnout across Assam

 

The BJP in Assam has repeatedly attempted to link Gogoi to Pakistan through his British spouse, a line of attack the Congress has described as xenophobic and defamatory. Gogoi, a three-term MP from Kaliabor who currently represents Jorhat, is the Deputy Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha and a key strategist for the party’s revival plans in the Northeast.

 

Political observers point out that this is not the first time Sarma has directed such personal allegations at his former colleague. Relations between the two deteriorated sharply after Sarma defected from the Congress in 2015 and joined the BJP. The exchanges have grown increasingly acrimonious as the Congress attempts to reclaim political ground in Assam.

 

The Congress has yet to issue a formal response to Sarma’s latest claim, though senior party leaders indicated that legal options are under consideration.