New Delhi: Newly-appointed Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi Wednesday accused Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of mischaracterising a private trip he made to Pakistan in 2013 with his wife to deflect attention from alleged corruption tied to the BJP leader’s family.
Gogoi said Sarma’s “ludicrous and ridiculous” allegations, bordering on a “C grade Bollywood drama”, came as a blessing in disguise for him as it had raised his profile in the state, where elections are due in early 2026. It also exposed the fears and insecurities of the CM, added Gogoi, who was named the Assam Congress president on 26 May.
“Around 14-15 years ago, my wife, who is a well-known public policy expert, spent a year there (Pakistan). She was working on an international project on climate change in 2011. She came to India in 2012-13 and took up a new job in 2015. While she was in her previous organisation, I had gone there (Pakistan) with her. The Assam CM has made a C grade Bollywood drama out of these facts,” Gogoi told a press conference, responding to questions on Sarma’s charges.
Gaurav married Elizabeth Colburn, who is a British citizen, in 2013.
Minutes after the press conference held at the Congress’s Akbar Road office in New Delhi, Sarma posted on X that Gogoi’s remarks amounted to an “admission” that he visited Pakistan.
“What lies ahead is far more serious. There exists every reasonable ground, supported by credible inputs and documented information, to suggest that Shri Gogoi has maintained proximity with the Pakistani establishment…,” Sarma posted.
The CM, who first made the allegation in February this year, has also set up a Special Investigation Team under the state police to investigate the matter.
Finally , Congress MP Shri Gaurav Gogoi has admitted that he visited Pakistan.
But let us be very clear — this is just the beginning, not the end.
What lies ahead is far more serious. There exists every reasonable ground, supported by credible inputs and documented…— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) May 28, 2025
Gogoi, who had so far neither denied nor confirmed that he visited Pakistan, Wednesday said he wanted to set the record straight by placing facts on his visit in the public domain.
“If I or my wife did anything wrong, what have the central agencies and the government done over the last 11 years? We know the extent of scrutiny that anyone crossing the border faces. And I am the leader of an opposition party who speaks his mind fearlessly. Everyone has my biodata and CV,” said Gogoi, son of late Tarun Gogoi, a three-time CM of Assam.
Gogoi, who was elected to the Lok Sabha in the 2024 elections from upper Assam’s Jorhat constituency, said Sarma, through his allegations, wanted to instill doubts about him in the minds of the Congress high command.
During the 2024 general elections, Sarma led an aggressive campaign against Gogoi in Jorhat but failed to defeat him.
“The people of Assam have totally rejected that smear campaign. I am thankful to the chief minister for raising and elevating my profile in the state, where there was a view that my activities were limited to national politics only. That notion has been dispelled. And I am also thankful to him for exposing his fear and insecurity in such a transparent manner,” said the Assam Congress chief.
“The smear campaign is nothing but a ploy to obfuscate the illegal activities he (Sarma) has been indulging in through his family. He has used his family to amass ill gotten wealth and huge properties. Members of his family are heading 17 companies and getting government contracts,” he added.
While he sidestepped questions on whether, in the run-up to the assembly polls, the Congress plans to revive the 16-member coalition of opposition parties that collapsed ahead of by-elections to five assembly seats in 2024, Gogoi virtually ruled out any future tie-up between the Congress and the AIUDF, saying “often we have felt” that the Badruddin Ajmal-led outfit, “through its conduct has behaved as the B-team of the BJP”.
On Tuesday, the outgoing Assam Congress chief Bhupen Borah made a strong pitch for the revival of the opposition alliance. Congress sources said attempts were being made to bring the coalition, which consisted of parties such as the Asom Jatiya Parishad and the CPI-ML, back to life.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
Also Read: ‘ISI’ row isn’t Himanta & Gaurav Gogoi’s 1st mud fight. Rivalry goes back to Assam CM’s Congress years
