GUWAHATI, May 28: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday alleged that Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi’s British wife was collecting various classified government documents on behalf of the Pakistani climate lobby.
Addressing a press conference here, Sarma claimed that the state government has documentary evidence to back up the allegation about Gogoi and his wife’s close ties with Pakistan, and he will reveal everything publicly by September 10.
Sarma made the remark hours after the newly appointed Assam Congress chief debunked claims that he had alleged links with the Pakistani establishment and that the ruling party was raking up the issue like a “C-grade Bollywood movie” that is going to “flop miserably”.
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“His wife monitored Intelligence Bureau (IB) documents and quoted those in her reports. That means she must have someone in the IB. It is a very very serious allegation. I have documents to prove that his wife Elizabeth Colburn was involved in collecting various intelligence reports,” the CM claimed.
Sarma said she worked for the climate lobby and had a close relationship with Pakistan.
Talking about Gogoi, Sarma said, “He is out-and-out a Pakistani agent. Both husband and wife are deeply involved in anti-India activities. Their entire relationship was with the Pakistani establishment… They maintained this relationship till around 2017-18.”
Sarma also claimed that the Congress’ Pakistan lobby colluded to replace Bhupen Kumar Borah with Gogoi as the Assam chief of the opposition party.
He questioned the Lok Sabha MP that why didn’t he admit to visiting Pakistan before assuming the new role of Assam Congress president or during the panchayat elections campaign last month.
“Rahul Gandhi will regret this appointment on September 10. He (Gogoi) has no shame at all. I have never seen such a shameless person in politics ever. He publicly admits that his wife and both children are foreigners, and cares for nobody!” Sarma quipped.
“In a family of four, three are not Indian citizens. What nationalistic views are you going to propagate?… The entire Congress will have to suffer the consequences of the decision he has taken for the party’s Assam unit,” he added.
Sarma claimed that Rahul Gandhi has always promoted “Pakistan-lovers” in the party.
“Congress always patronises pro-Pakistan stance. Rahul Gandhi and Gaurav Gogoi had opposed the purchase of Rafale. Now imagine what would have been our situation if we did not have the aircraft during Operation Sindoor?” he questioned.
Asked about Gogoi’s statement earlier during the day that he had gone to Pakistan only once 12 years ago when his wife was working there, Sarma said, “His visit that I am talking about is not related to wife at all. It was a standalone visit on the invitation of the Interior Ministry of Pakistan.”
He also claimed that Gogoi surrendered the Indian passport of his son in 2021, when he was seven years old, but his daughter was born in England.
“We are going to take action on September 10. This is related to national security… It has no relation with elections, which will come and go,” Sarma asserted.
The BJP leader also wondered if Gogoi had informed his father, former CM Tarun Gogoi, about his visit to Pakistan as he was heading the state government at that time.
“If Tarun Gogoi knew it, did he inform the Special Branch and did his son go through the debriefing process? Because whenever anyone visits an enemy nation, debriefing takes place,” he added.
The Assam CM and the BJP have been attacking Gogoi over his wife’s alleged connection with Pakistan’s spy agency ISI.
He had claimed that Colburn had travelled 19 times between India and Pakistan.
Hitting back hard, Gogoi slammed Sarma over his accusation of the MP’s alleged Pakistani links and questioned his mental state due to issues at the home front.
He even said the CM’s remarks were “ridiculous, baseless, insane and nonsense” and that he was behaving like an “IT cell troll” without talking with facts. (PTI)
