CM failed to prove Pak link allegations: Gaurav

Guwahati: Assam PCC president Gaurav Gogoi on Sunday hit back at CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, saying the latter’s attempts to establish his (Gaurav’s) alleged Pakistan links was a “super flop” movie.

Gaurav, while speaking to the media at Sipajhar in lower Assam’s Darrang district, said Sarma failed to prove any “Pakistan links”, and the CM had no logic or information to establish his claims.




The deputy leader of Congress in Lok Sabha added that Himanta was worried ahead of the assembly elections. Gaurav is leading Congress’s Parivartan Yatra in the state to mobilise the public against BJP.

“During the press conference, for two-and-a-half hours Sarma tried to take to the people his flop movie,” Gaurav said, adding that the CM failed to prove the allegations that he had made. “I predicted earlier that it would flop. But I was wrong. It was super flop,” Gaurav said.

On Sep 10 last year, Assam Police’s SIT submitted its report on Pakistan national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh before Sarma. The SIT also probed alleged Pakistani links of Gaurav and his wife Elizabeth, CM Sarma had earlier said. Gaurav on Sunday lashed out at him, questioning why no action was taken in the last six months if the report was so important.

“The chief minister previously wanted to invite journalists on Sep 10, but he had been sleeping on the file for the last six months. If the report was so important, it should have been out six months before and sent to the Centre much earlier,” Gogoi said.

He added that Sarma’s press conference was election-oriented, and that was why he delayed it and arranged the press conference months later. “It is time for change. People of Assam have come out seeking change and visualising a new Bor Asom (greater Assam). So, just about two months before the state elections, he arranged the press conference. That means he himself is not convinced,” Gogoi said. Instead, Gogoi thanked Sarma for projecting him (Gogoi) as a big leader. Gogoi said Congress’s yatra has been a hit and “their” (BJP’s) cinema has flopped.

Interestingly, on Sep 10, when the SIT report was about to be released, former Sipajhar MLA and once a close aide of Sarma, Binanda Saikia, joined Congress in New Delhi. On Sunday, when Sarma revealed the findings of the SIT, Gogoi was in Saikia’s home constituency, Sipajhar, attending a programme arranged by Darrang district Congress committee.

The Assam Jatiya Parishad too said the CM failed to substantiate his claim of Gogoi being linked to Pakistan’s ISI during the press conference. AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi and general secretary Jagadish Bhuyan, in a statement, alleged that Sarma dragged the Assam Police’s SIT into political battles for personal and party interests, thereby reducing the police force to a subject of public ridicule.

Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi said if Gaurav was really a Pakistani agent, he should be jailed immediately. He asked why Gaurav was being allowed to attend Lok Sabha sessions if he had links to Pakistan. “If he is a Pakistani agent, why does Gaurav Gogoi remain free? He can send vital information to Pakistan,” Akhil said, adding that the entire episode will prove to be a drama if Gaurav continues to roam freely and hold important positions as an MP despite such allegations by a CM.