A political storm has erupted in Assam ahead of the assembly elections, with the BJP and chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma strongly rejecting Congress allegations about the CM’s wife holding foreign passports and overseas assets.
The BJP has called the claims “fabricated” and vowed legal action against Congress leader Pawan Khera.
The controversy erupted after Pawan Khera alleged at a press conference that Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, holds passports from the UAE, Antigua and Barbuda, and Egypt, PTI reported.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi dismissed the Congress claims, pointing to what he described as glaring inconsistencies in the documents being circulated.
“The documents released contain multiple glaring errors. The surname is wrongly written as ‘Sharma’ instead of ‘Sarma’ for Himanta Biswa Sarma. The photo appears sourced from public domain images. Nationality is shown as Egyptian while the passport is from Antigua and Barbuda… All of this clearly indicates that these are fabricated and misleading documents, seemingly created in frustration and desperation ahead of elections in the state,” Trivedi said.
Congress alleges multiple passports, undisclosed assets
Congress leader Pawan Khera claimed that Riniki Bhuyan Sharma owns two properties in Dubai that were not disclosed in Sarma’s election affidavit and alleged links to a company in Wyoming, USA.
“Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, the wife of the Assam Chief Minister, holds three passports,” Khera said, while questioning whether there was concealment of information in poll filings.
He further alleged, “Are they making preparations to flee the country in the event of an electoral defeat?”
Sarma rejects charges, alleges ‘digital manipulation’
Responding sharply, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma “categorically rejected” the allegations, calling them “malicious” and “politically motivated lies”, as per PTI.
“These are malicious, fabricated, and politically motivated lies aimed at misleading the people of Assam,” Sarma said.
He also flagged what he called “serious discrepancies” in the documents, stating they indicated “a crude and poorly executed attempt at digital manipulation”.
Listing inconsistencies, Sarma said the documents had spelling errors, mismatched passport numbers and expiry dates, and even invalid QR codes.
“Busting Congress’ propaganda – serious discrepancies exposed. The documents being circulated show multiple glaring inconsistencies, suggesting a crude and poorly executed attempt at digital manipulation,” he said in a post on X.
He added, “I categorically reject every allegation made by him.”
Sarma said he and his wife would initiate legal proceedings against Khera. “My wife and I will be filing both criminal and civil defamation cases within the next 48 hours… He will be held fully accountable for his reckless and defamatory statements,” he wrote.
He also asserted, “I have complete faith in the judiciary… the law will take its due course.”
Escalating his attack, Sarma added, “I am confident that Pawan Khera’s campaign of falsehood is nearing its end. Eventually Mr Khera will go to Jail.”
Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, also rejected the allegations and said she would pursue legal remedies.
“I expected a spokesperson of a national party to exercise basic due diligence, rather than circulate poorly fabricated images of imaginary passports and documents. I will now be letting the law take over. Criminal charges are being initiated. We can continue this in court,” she said on X.
(With inputs from PTI)
