Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on Monday said that the Assam government can conduct any probe it wants amid a controversy over his wife’s alleged links to a Pakistani national as claimed by state chief minister Himanta Sarma.
Gaurav Gogoi also said that the allegations were part of the BJP’s “diversionary tactics” as it is afraid of losing the assembly election in the state next year.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the BJP have also been attacking Gaurav Gogoi, the deputy leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, over his British wife Elizabeth Colburn’s alleged ISI links.
“…People of Assam saw the chief minister’s face yesterday. Look at his eyes, it was clear that something was amiss. There is something that is bothering the CM and it is natural because he is scared. He changes his stand every day out of fear…Congress’ stand is clear. If they have to investigate anything, they can. We stand firm,” Gogoi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
“The fear among them (the BJP) is due to the elections that will be held 12 months from now. Their defeat is imminent in those elections and he (Sarma) knows this. He knows that he will lose his post.”
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Gaurav Gogoi also said that he has discussed the allegations with the Congress’s legal team.
“We have already had a discussion with the legal team of AICC yesterday. We will be taking the next steps forward, but the preliminary discussions have already taken place,” Gogoi said.
Gogoi also exuded confidence in the upcoming state elections and said that the people would go to Congress with a united front to raise their issues.
“In these 12 months, Congress will go to the people with a united front and raise their issues. In the end, the people of Assam will win,” he said.
Assam Police lodges FIR
The Assam Police on Monday lodged a first information report (FIR) against Pakistani national Ali Tauqueer Sheikh and unknown others for alleged anti-India activities.
The FIR came after the Sarma-led Assam Cabinet directed police to lodge a case against Gogoi and find whether Sheikh’s alleged association with Gogoi’s wife, Elizabeth Clare, a British national, had any implications on the nation’s security and sovereignty.
Sheikh is the founder of Lead Pakistan, a non-profit organisation working in the field of climate change. Sarma had alleged that Elizabeth Gogoi was an integral part of Lead Pakistan during her time spent in Islamabad.
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“Sheikh’s social media activity includes exhaustive commentary on India’s internal affairs and parliamentary matters, raising serious concerns on the said individual’s intention to compromise and damage India’s interests,” he had said.
The chief minister had also said the state government would write to the Centre to probe Colburn’s participation in Lok Sabha campaigns, despite being a British citizen, in the erstwhile Kaliabor constituency, which was won by Gogoi twice.
