GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has objected to Jorhat MP Gaurav Gogoi’s inclusion in the list of Congress leaders to be sent abroad to explain India’s position on Pakistan's terrorism.
The Centre will send multiple and multi-party delegations to various countries to brief them about Pakistan’s role in cross-border terrorism in the light of the terror attack in Pahalgam and Operation Sindoor.
On May 16, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had spoken with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, asking them to submit the names of four MPs.
On X platform on Saturday, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote that Gandhi had written to Rijiju providing the names of Congress leaders Anand Sharma, Dr Syed Naseer Hussain, Raja Brar, besides Gogoi.
The post drew the attention of the Assam chief minister to which he objected.
“One of the MPs named in the list (from Assam) 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 posted on X.
“In the interest of national security and beyond partisan politics, I urge the leader of the opposition, Sri Rahul Gandhi, not to include this individual in such a sensitive and strategic assignment,” he further wrote.
Earlier, he levelled a series of charges against his bête noire, Gogoi. He had stated that the Congress MP met a Pakistani Army official during his visit to the neighbouring country.
He also claimed that Gogoi had taken 90 boys and girls to the Pakistani embassy in New Delhi for 'radicalisation.'
Gogoi was also accused for raising sensitive questions on defence matters in Parliament after his marriage to Elizabeth Colburn who is a British national. A special investigation team (SIT) of the Assam Police is probing the charges. The SIT is expected to submit its report by September 10.