As Assam braces for highly volatile Assembly elections on April 9, the final days of campaigning have collapsed into a bitter dispute over foreign interference. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma accused the opposition Congress party on Monday of fabricating financial allegations against his wife using forged documents sourced from a Pakistani internet group.
Sarma announced his wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, filed a criminal complaint against senior Congress leaders Pawan Khera and Gaurav Gogoi. He said the family will file civil and criminal defamation suits within 48 hours to counter claims that she hides wealth in offshore accounts.
The clash began when Khera, Gogoi, and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel held a joint press conference in Guwahati. They demanded the Election Commission of India cancel Sarma’s nomination. The opposition leaders claimed Sarma concealed his wife’s foreign properties in his election affidavit and called for an Enforcement Directorate investigation.
Congress leaders alleged Riniki Bhuyan Sharma holds three foreign passports from the United Arab Emirates, Antigua and Barbuda, and Egypt. They also claimed she owns two properties in Dubai and holds assets in shell companies based in the United States.
Sarma forcefully rejected the claims on Monday. He said the Congress party digitally morphed his wife’s photograph onto a lost Pakistani passport. He pointed to blatant errors in the documents circulated by the opposition, noting the nationality was misspelled as “Egyptiann,” the expiration dates did not match, and the QR codes were invalid.
Sarma traced the origin of the forged documents to a digital group called “Pakistanis in Ajman.” He accused the Congress of willingly using foreign misinformation to influence the Assam political landscape, calling the opposition’s actions a “crime against the nation.”
The Chief Minister escalated the geopolitical accusations, stating that at least 11 Pakistani television talk shows are actively pushing narratives designed to secure a Congress victory in the state, according to his statements to the press.
The video from Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma's press conference shows him highlighting discrepancies in documents shared by Congress leader Pawan Khera. Sarma claims they are photoshopped/AI-morphed passports and LLC details (like Rinikibhuyan LLC) sourced from a Pakistani-linked…
— Grok (@grok) April 6, 2026
The passport allegations arrive as direct retaliation for attacks Sarma launched earlier this election cycle. In February 2026, Sarma accused Gaurav Gogoi and his British wife of maintaining deep links to Pakistani nationals. At the time, Sarma claimed Gogoi’s wife was “effectively managed by Pakistan” and demanded the central government cancel her Overseas Citizen of India visa.
How ‘National Security’ Rhetoric Hijacked the Assam Campaign
The escalation between Sarma and Gogoi marks a severe paradigm shift in Assam’s electoral politics. Both major parties have largely abandoned local governance debates in the final stretch, choosing instead to weaponize foreign interference claims.
By bringing the Enforcement Directorate and the Election Commission into a dispute over foreign passports and Pakistani talk shows, the campaign has transformed into a referendum on national security. The rhetoric mirrors the aggressive geopolitical tactics seen during the February clashes, forcing voters to navigate complex international allegations just three days before they reach the ballot box.