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Worse Than C-Grade Cinema’: Gogoi Attacks Assam CM

By AT News |

Guwahati: Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president and Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi on Sunday launched a sharp attack on Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over a recent press conference, dismissing it as “worse than a C-grade cinema” and accusing the Chief Minister of making baseless and sensational claims.

The Chief Minister, however, maintained that the allegations involving Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh and Elizabeth Gogoi—wife of Gaurav Gogoi—were serious in nature and should not be treated lightly.

Addressing the media, CM Sarma said the matter assumed greater significance as it involved a sitting Member of Parliament. “These are grave allegations. When a sitting MP, who is also the Deputy Leader of the Congress party in Parliament, is linked to Pakistan in any manner, the issue automatically goes beyond the scope of a routine investigation,” he said.

Responding on social media platform X, Gogoi criticised the press conference in strong terms. “I pity the journalists from Delhi and Assam who had to endure the most flop press conference of the century. This was worse than a C-grade cinema. The most mindless and bogus points were presented by the so-called politically shrewd Chief Minister,” Gogoi wrote.

He further claimed that the Chief Minister’s allegations stood in contrast to the Congress party’s Xomoy Parivartan Yatra, which, according to him, had exposed the alleged occupation of 12,000 bighas of land by the Chief Minister and his family members.

Meanwhile, CM Sarma disclosed that the matter was initially examined by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Assam Police. Based on the SIT’s findings, a formal case was later registered at the CID police station for further investigation.

The Chief Minister said the SIT report was placed before the Assam Cabinet, which, after deliberation, concluded that the seriousness, sensitivity and wider implications of the allegations warranted an investigation by a central agency.

CM Sarma further stated that the issue surfaced after a photograph went viral on social media showing Gogoi accompanying a group of youths to the Pakistan Embassy. He claimed that Abdul Basit, who was Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India at the time, was present during the interaction in 2015.

Describing India’s relationship with Pakistan as “sensitive and adversarial,” the Chief Minister said such engagements could not be dismissed as routine or innocuous. Once the authenticity of the photograph was verified, he added, the matter could no longer be viewed in isolation.

The Chief Minister maintained that the state government was duty-bound to thoroughly examine all aspects of the issue, particularly when questions of national interest and the conduct of public representatives were involved.

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