Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said his wife has obtained an FIR on allegations from Congress leader Pawan Khera that she is holding three from the UAE, Antigua Barbuda and Egypt.
Sarma accused the Congress of using fabricated documents to influence the results of the upcoming state elections and warned of “life imprisonment” for this.
“When these allegations are used with fabricated documents to influence the outcome or results of the elections, it imposes harsher penalties, and the penalty for this is life imprisonment,” Sarma said in a press conference on Monday.
Khera also alleged that Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan, has undisclosed business interests abroad. He also claimed the presence of real estate in Dubai and companies in the United States linked to the Prime Minister’s family.
Responding to these allegations earlier, Sarma categorically denied the allegations, stating that one of the passports in question was “fake” and showed inconsistencies in the documents. He said that confirmations received from the Dubai authorities and the Indian government indicate that the passport in question is not real.
What Congress claimed
Pawon Khera claimed at a press conference in New Delhi that Sarma’s wife Riniki Bhuyan holds three passports from the UAE, Antigua Barbuda and Egypt, which expire in March 2027, August 2031 and February 2029 respectively.
Reacting to the accusations leveled by Khaira against Prime Minister Riniki Bhuyan Sharma’s wife, Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi, in another press conference, said that carrying multiple passports and not disclosing assets is a serious and criminal offence.
AICC’s head of publicity and media communication also claimed that Sarma’s wife owns “two properties in Dubai which clearly mention Rinike Bhuyan Sarma as the owner of the property” but neither of them was mentioned in the Prime Minister’s affidavits submitted to the Election Commission of India along with his nomination paper.
An FIR was lodged, and a life imprisonment warning was issued
“Yesterday, Pawan Khera and Gaurav Gogoi held two press conferences, one in Delhi and the other in Guwahati… During our research, we found that the entire material of the press conference, which was held yesterday, was provided by a Pakistani social media group,” Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said at a press conference on Monday.
Sarma said that in the last 10 days, the Pakistani channel has hosted at least 11 talk shows on elections in Assam, which has never happened before.
“And in every talk show, the conclusion is that Congress should win. Pakistan’s connection to yesterday’s press conference has also become very clear. I am sure the law enforcement agency will take this into consideration,” he said.
“…Normally, when you raise a particular issue before the public with forged documents, it attracts 420 and 468 of the IPC. Of course, there is a correspondence clause in the new BNS. When such allegations are used with fabricated documents to influence the outcome or outcome of elections, it attracts higher penalty provisions, and the punishment for that is life imprisonment. Yesterday, my wife lodged an FIR, and I am sure the police will register the case in the appropriate section of the law and take necessary action,” he added.
The Assam Chief Minister said the original UAE passport – which Pawan Khera showed as Rinike Bhuyan’s – was uploaded on social media by a Pakistani man. “They (Congress) used Photoshop AI in the passport. Tipu Sultan uploaded the original passport on social media. The Egyptian passport is also fake. You can find out through Google Reverse,” Sarma said.
