'Hiding their failures': Gaurav Gogoi slams BJP’s ‘malicious campaign' against his wife

Gaurav Gogoi

Congress Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi said that he trusts the ‘wisdom of the people of Assam’ as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that his UK-born wife Elizabeth has ‘Pakistan links’. Dubbing the remarks made by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma as a ‘slanderous campaign’, Gaurav Gogoi said that he and his party will take appropriate action.

“I have full faith in the wisdom of the people of Assam that they can see through this obvious slander campaign. The BJP government has no performance to show. They are unable to fulfil any of their promises and in order to hide their failures, they are embarking upon a mischievous, malicious, baseless, fact-less, slanderous campaign. We will definitely be taking appropriate action,” Gaurav Gogoi said.

“The way the people of Jharkhand voted out the rhetoric of Himanta Biswa Sarma during the Jharkhand assembly election, similarly the wisdom of the Assamese people will prevail. They will vote in a Congress-led government in the upcoming election,” he added.

This comes after Himanta Biswa Sarma raised questions about a meeting Gaurav Gogoi held 10 years ago with the then Pakistan High Commissioner to India.

In a long post on X, Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “In 2015, the Pakistani High Commissioner to India, Mr. Abdul Basit, invited a first-term Member of Parliament (MP) and his startup, Policy for Youth, to discuss India-Pakistan relations…Soon after, his startup published an article in The Hindu criticizing the Border Security Force’s handling of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

He added, “A closer examination of his parliamentary questions revealed a growing focus on sensitive defense matters…Interestingly, these developments occurred immediately after his marriage to a British citizen with a professional background that raises further questions.”

Himanta Biswa Sarma also said that the Assam cabinet has directed the DGP to file a case against Ali Seikh who has served the Pakistan government has been in contact with Elizabeth Gogoi.

He noted, “The government of Assam takes Ali Sheikh as a person trying to interfere in domestic matters of Assam seriously. Following examination it has been found Ali Shekh has been linked with Elizabeth Gogoi wife of MP Gogoi. They have been part of several organisations including Global Climate Action Network which has links with Pakistan.”