Gaurav should have been in Parl group with Pak, not Philippnines: Himanta

Guwahati: Reigniting his war of words with Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said the opposition leader should have been assigned to an “India-Pakistan group” rather than the newly constituted parliamentary friendship panel with the Philippines.The comment, made at an official event in Mariani, was an apparent reference to Sarma’s earlier allegation of Gaurav being a “Pakistani agent.” Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had on Monday announced the formation of Parliamentary Friendship Groups with over 60 countries, naming Gaurav — Congress’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha and Jorhat MP — as head of the India-Philippines group.“He (Gaurav) should have been giventhe India-Pakistan group. By mistake, he was given the India-Philippines group. It would have worked well,” Sarma said.The Assam Congress hit back, accusing the CM of running a “malicious campaign” against Gaurav. Sharing the Speaker’s letter on X, the party said: “This comes at a time when the Assam CM is running a malicious campaign against our leader — even going so far as to call him a ‘Pakistani agent’.”The row comes weeks after Sarma alleged links between Gaurav and his British wife Elizabeth Colburn, and Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, claiming intelligence inputs had been passed to the neighbouring country.The state cabinet has referred the matter and SIT findings to the ministry of home affairs. Gogoi has dismissed the charges as “mindless and bogus,” calling Sarma’s Feb 8 press conference “worse than a C-grade cinema” and a “super flop.”