Operation Sindoor: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday alleged that Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi visited Pakistan at the invitation of the country’s intelligence agency, the ISI and received “training”.
Addressing the media, Sarma said, “Gaurav Gogoi had gone to Pakistan on the invitation of ISI. We have that document. He went there to receive training. It was not an invitation from Pakistan’s cultural ministry or external affairs, but from their Home Department.”
Sarma termed the matter “serious” and hinted that more “considerable action” could follow. The Chief Minister also claimed that documentary proof exists, though he has not yet made it public.
He added, “He has gone to Pakistan on the invitation of Pakistan’s Interior Ministry and ISI is under the Interior Ministry… If this is not espionage, then what is? Then you come and protest against Rafale. You ask questions in Parliament, where has the security layer been built in the coastal route? Where is India’s nuclear weapon kept? Who wrote these questions for you? You have learnt them in the training programme. If I have said even one thing wrong, I will not remain the CM. If I have said even one thing wrong, I will not even go to my house.”
Gogoi’s wife drawing salary from Pak-based NGO?
The controversy erupted a day after Congress MP Jairam Ramesh announced four party-nominated names for an all-party delegation tasked with shaping global opinion on India’s war against terrorism on Saturday. The list included former Union Minister Anand Sharma, and MPs Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain, and Raja Brar.
Himanta Biswa Sarma objected specifically to Gogoi’s nomination, suggesting the Congress MP’s background makes him unfit for such a sensitive diplomatic role. “One of the MPs named in the list has not denied his prolonged stay in Pakistan – reportedly for two weeks – and credible documents show that his wife was drawing salary from a Pakistan-based NGO while working in India,” Sarma wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
The Assam CM appealed directly to Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, asking him to reconsider the nomination. “In the interest of national security and beyond partisan politics, I urge the Leader of Opposition not to include this individual in such a sensitive and strategic assignment,” Sarma posted.
Congress yet to respond to allegations
As of now, neither Gaurav Gogoi nor the Congress party has officially responded to the serious accusations made by Sarma. The central government has reportedly declined three of the four Congress-nominated names for the delegation, including Gogoi, Hussain, and Brar.