"Wasn't Even MP During Pak Visit": Gaurav Gogoi On Himanta Sarma's Charge

Congress's Gaurav Gogoi, the deputy leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, who is facing BJP allegations about aiding Pakistan, today said the allegations are just BJP propaganda ahead of the assembly  election in Assam.  

"Propaganda is the bread and butter of the BJP. They always indulge in character assassination... We are used to this. We expect this from the BJP," Mr Gogoi told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

"Even today, their IT Cell and cadres have insulted the widows of Pahalgam in Haryana, especially Himanshi Narwal. They have not even spared the daughter of the foreign secretary," he said.

Mr Gogoi explained that the time period the BJP are citing was about 14 to 15 years ago, when  his wife "was working on an international project with an NGO in Pakistan".

"In 2013, when I was not even an MP, I visited Pakistan for the first and the last time," he said.

Arguing that the BJP was working with purely a political motivation, Mr Gogoi pointed out that over the last 11 or 12 years, the Central and state governments have been silent. 

"Now with 10 months left for the next election, they have taken this issue for political mileage... We are hopeful that the people of Assam can see through this attempt to cast aspersion on my character," he said.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had initially claimed that Mr Gogoi spent 15 days in Pakistan when his wife was working there and some of his actions may have indirectly aided the Pakistan Army.

Today, Himanta Sarma described Mr Gogoi as a "deep-rooted Pakistani agent" and claimed that he had only revealed 10 per cent about his visit to Pakistan.

Refuting the Congress MP's clarification, Mr Sarma said his visit to Pakistan had nothing to do with his wife's professional assignment and was an independent visit approved by the Interior Department of Pakistan.

At a press conference, Mr Sarma said, "This man (Gaurav Gogoi) is openly a deep-rooted Pakistani agent... Whatever he (Gaurav Gogoi) has revealed is only 10 per cent. He and his wife are deeply involved in anti-India activities. His son was born in India and later got British citizenship. He surrendered his son's Indian passport... I have documents to prove his wife's involvement in collecting Indian Intelligence input. I will reveal details on September 10".

"No Assamese will ever forget the supreme sacrifice of Jintu Gogoi (an Indian Army officer who lost his life in the line of duty during the Kargil War) or the Pahalgam incident. No Assamese will be fine with justifying the visit to Pakistan," he added.