A fresh political storm erupted on Tuesday as Assam Police reached the Delhi residence of Congress leader Pawan Khera, a day after an FIR was filed against him by Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The complaint pertains to allegations of passport fraud levelled by Khera during a series of press conferences.
According to sources, local Delhi Police assisted the Assam Police team during their visit to Khera’s residence in the Nizamuddin area. The development comes amid a rapidly intensifying political confrontation between the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the Assam elections.
The controversy began on Sunday when Congress held two press conferences in Delhi and Guwahati. Addressing the media, Khera and Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi alleged that Riniki Bhuyan Sharma possessed multiple passports from the UAE, Egypt, and Antigua and Barbuda. They further claimed she owned properties in Dubai and operated a company based in Wyoming in the United States.
The allegations triggered a swift and sharp response from Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. On Monday, Sarma dismissed the claims as fabricated and accused the Congress of relying on dubious sources, including content allegedly sourced from a Pakistan-linked social media group.
Sarma escalated the matter by alleging a “Pakistan angle” behind the controversy. He claimed that the data used to create the alleged passport documents was taken from a Facebook group named “Pakistanis in Ajman.” He further stated that Pakistani media outlets had recently aired discussions about the Assam elections, suggesting a possible attempt to influence the electoral process.
“In normal circumstances, this would have been a simple defamation case,” Sarma said during a press briefing. “However, such allegations made just before elections can impact the outcome and are far more serious. This could even attract life imprisonment.”
Following the allegations, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma filed a police complaint in Guwahati on Sunday night against Khera and other Congress leaders, accusing them of spreading false and defamatory information. The FIR set the stage for Tuesday’s police action in Delhi.
The Congress, meanwhile, has stood by its leaders, framing the police visit as political intimidation. The party has accused the BJP-led government in Assam of misusing state machinery to silence opposition voices.
The episode underscores the intensifying political climate in Assam as elections approach. With both sides trading serious allegations, the controversy is likely to remain at the center of political discourse in the coming days.
As investigations proceed, the focus will now be on the legal trajectory of the case and whether it further deepens the already sharp divide between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress.
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