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AssamChief MinisterHimanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday initiated a Rs 500-crore defamation suit against senior Congress leaders Jitendra Singh, Bhupesh Baghel, and Gaurav Gogoi, following allegations he described as "false, malicious, and defamatory" regarding his land holdings
The legal action follows a press conference held on February 4 by Gaurav Gogoi, president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, where he claimed that an internal party inquiry had found that nearly 12,000 bighas of land across Assam had allegedly been "occupied" by the Chief Minister and his family.
Reacting promptly, Sarma announced his intention to file a defamation case, asserting that the allegations were completely baseless and made without evidence. The official filing, seeking Rs 500 crore in damages, was completed on Tuesday.
"Today, I have filed a defamation case seeking Rs 500 crore in damages against Congress leaders Jitendra Singh, Bhupesh Baghel and Gaurav Gogoi for making false, malicious and defamatory allegations against me through a press conference," Sarma said in a post on X.
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The controversy escalated further when Gaurav Gogoi, in another press briefing on Monday, accused Sarma of “inciting genocide” against Muslims and fostering communal tension, claims the Chief Minister has firmly denied.
In a separate development, Sarma also addressed a complaint lodged by AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi with Hyderabad Police over a now-deleted video purportedly showing anti-Muslim violence and branding it as “genocidal hate speech.” Responding to the complaint, Sarma said he had no objection to the arrest and reiterated his stance on illegal immigration from Bangladesh.
"I am ready to face arrest if required. I do not know anything about the video in question. But I firmly stand by my position: I am against illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators, and I will continue to maintain that stance," Sarma stated.