BJP claims Gaurav Gogoi's wife has ISI links; he responds
What's the story
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged that Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's wife, Elizabeth Colbourn, has links with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and BJP Spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia have both publicly made the allegations.
Bhatia claimed that Colbourn previously worked in Islamabad under Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, a former advisor to Pakistan's Planning Commission.
Meanwhile, Sarma, without naming Colbourn, said that serious questions need to be answered regarding the allegations of ISI links.
Foreign interference
Sarma alleges foreign influence in Assam Congress's 2014 decision
Sarma alleged foreign powers, spearheaded by George Soros's ecosystem, influenced a major decision of the Assam Congress in 2014.
He accused Gogoi and his wife of having links with the ISI and leading youth to the Pakistan High Commission for radicalization.
The CM also raised concerns over Colbourn's refusal to take Indian citizenship in the last 12 years and links to a conversion cartel funded from outside.
Counterclaim
Gogoi dismisses allegations, accuses Sarma of diversion tactics
Responding to these accusations, Gogoi dismissed them as "laughable and entertaining."
He sarcastically retorted that if his wife is an ISI agent, then he must be a Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) agent.
The Congress leader accused Sarma of using these claims to divert attention from controversies surrounding his own family.
He referenced ongoing land-grabbing cases against Sarma's family as a possible motive for the accusations.
Election tactics
Gogoi criticizes BJP for resorting to baseless allegations
Gogoi also alleged that similar smear campaigns were run against him ahead of last year's Lok Sabha elections, which he won from the Jorhat constituency.
The Congress leader slammed the BJP for not having any real issues and resorting to baseless allegations.
"The assembly election is still a year away but it seems that the BJP is on a shaky ground with people losing faith in the party due to which it has launched this attack on me," Gogoi added.