'Met Pak Officials After His Marriage': Assam CM Ramps Up Attack on Gaurav Gogoi

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has escalated his attack on Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi. He accused him of engaging with Pakistani officials despite India's official protests, "immediately after his marriage to a British citizen with a professional background".

Taking to X, CM Sarma posted a picture of Gogoi at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, where he was allegedly invited in 2015 to discuss India-Pakistan relations. He questioned the intent behind this meeting, pointing out that Gogoi, at the time, was not a member of the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs.

The Chief Minister said that despite India's official protest against the Pakistani High Commission's interference in internal matters, particularly its involvement with the Hurriyat Conference, Gogoi reportedly took 50 to 60 young Indians to meet Pakistani officials.

Following the meeting, CM Sarma claimed Gogoi's startup published an article in The Hindu criticizing the Border Security Force's handling of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. He also pointed to Gogoi’s subsequent parliamentary questions, which, according to him, showed an increasing focus on sensitive defense matters, such as inquiries about Coast Guard radar installations and alleged attacks on churches.

Further intensifying his allegations, the Chief Minister highlighted Gogoi’s marriage to a British citizen, who, according to the CM, had worked for an American senator with close ties to the Pakistani establishment and had later worked in Pakistan with an organization believed to be connected to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The CM questioned the timing of these developments, suggesting that they may have influenced Gogoi's political actions.

The Chief Minister said that such high-level interactions with representatives of an adversarial nation should have required approval from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and a post-meeting debriefing. He called on Gogoi to clarify whether he had complied with these protocols, as national security must always take precedence over politics.

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 at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. Notably, this MP was not a member of the…

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) February 13, 2025

The BJP has been vocal about the allegations surrounding Elizabeth Gogoi, Gaurav Gogoi’s wife. BJP spokesperson Kishor Upadhyay demanded a clear response from Gaurav Gogoi regarding claims that his wife worked under the ISI in Islamabad and was associated with Tauqir Sheikh, a senior advisor to Pakistan’s Planning Commission. He also hit out at Congress leaders for their alleged connections to George Soros and his NGOs, accusing them of interfering in India's internal affairs, and pointed to past allegations of links between Congress figures and Pakistani officials.

Dilip Saikia, the State BJP president, doubled down on the matter, saying that Gogoi was unfit for politics, and called the alleged ties between his wife and the ISI a national security concern. Saikia demanded that Gogoi provide a clear explanation regarding the serious allegations.

In response, Gaurav Gogoi dismissed the accusations as part of a political strategy. He noted that similar allegations had been made against his family during the last Lok Sabha elections and suggested that these tactics were being used again ahead of the upcoming Assam Assembly elections. He responded defiantly, “If my wife is indeed an ISI agent, then I must be a RAW agent for India.”

He further criticized CM Sarma for raising these allegations, saying that it was an attempt to divert attention from his own issues.

Also Read: National Security Concern or Political Gimmick? Questions Rise Over Elizabeth Gogoi’s Past