Guwahati: A political controversy has erupted in Assam ahead of the Assembly elections, with the BJP and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma rejecting Congress allegations about his wife’s alleged foreign passports and overseas assets.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongly denied the allegations, terming them “fabricated” and politically motivated. Party MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said the documents cited by the Congress contained “multiple glaring errors”.
“The documents released contain multiple glaring errors. The surname is wrongly written as ‘Sharma’ instead of ‘Sarma’. The photo appears sourced from public domain images. Nationality is shown as Egyptian while the passport is from Antigua and Barbuda,” Trivedi said.
He further added that that the claims were “misleading” and made out of “desperation ahead of elections”.
Responding sharply, Chief Minister Sarma “categorically rejected” the allegations, calling them “malicious, fabricated, and politically motivated lies aimed at misleading the people of Assam”.
He also pointed to “serious discrepancies” in the documents, including spelling mistakes, mismatched passport details, and invalid QR codes, alleging a “crude attempt at digital manipulation”.
The BJP has warned of legal action against Khera, further intensifying the political confrontation ahead of the polls.
The row began after Congress leader Pawan Khera claimed that Riniki Bhuyan Sharma holds passports from multiple countries, including the UAE, Antigua and Barbuda, and Egypt.
He also alleged that she owns undisclosed properties in Dubai and has links to a company in the United States.
“Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, the wife of the Assam Chief Minister, holds three passports,” Khera said, questioning whether there was any concealment in election disclosures.
“Are they making preparations to flee the country in the event of an electoral defeat?” he further asked.