Guwahati, Jan 26: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday launched a sharp attack on the state Congress leadership, accusing Gaurav Gogoi of being “mentally fixated on Pakistan” even while attempting to criticise him.
Reacting to recent remarks by Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi, the Chief Minister told reporters here that the opposition leader intended to label him as a “hardcore Hindu”, but failed to present any substantive criticism.
“Assam Congress president wants to say that I am a hardcore Hindu. But even while criticising me, he can only give examples of Pakistan and its leaders. His mindset is centred there,” Sarma said.
The Chief Minister asserted that such comparisons expose the ideological bankruptcy of the Congress in Assam and its inability to engage with issues concerning governance, development and public welfare.
Sarma’s comments came in response to Gogoi’s recent statement in which the Congress leader accused the Chief Minister of attempting to divide society on religious lines and questioned his repeated references to Pakistan in political speeches.
Gogoi had alleged that Sarma’s politics thrives on polarisation and fear-mongering rather than addressing unemployment, price rise and farmers’ concerns.
Hitting back, Sarma said that the Congress leadership has consistently tried to deflect attention from its own failures by dragging external narratives into local politics.
“When they have nothing to say about Assam’s progress, they start invoking Pakistan. This only reflects where their thoughts are rooted,” he added.
The Chief Minister also reiterated that his government’s focus remains on development, law and order, and safeguarding Assam’s cultural identity, asserting that the people of the state have repeatedly rejected the Congress’s “confused and directionless politics”.
Political observers see the sharp exchange as part of the escalating war of words between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress ahead of key political battles in the state, with Pakistan references continuing to be a recurring flashpoint in Assam’s political discourse.
–IANS