'Yet to deny Pak links': Assam CM Himanta asks Rahul Gandhi to drop Gaurav Gogoi from Congress's list for all-party delegation

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma urged the Congress party to drop the name of MP Gaurav Gogoi from its official list for the Centre's all-party delegation over his alleged Pakistani links. Sarma said Gogoi is yet to deny the allegations levelled against him.

The Congress party on Saturday released list of names it had officially recommended to the Union government for the all-party delegation which will be visiting partner countries to present India's measures to combat terrorism. Interestingly, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who is leading one of the seven all-party delegations, was not named in the list. The Congress has recommended the names of former Union cabinet minister Anand Sharma and MPs Gaurav Gogoi, Dr Syed Naseer Hussain and Raja Brar for the delegation.

Targeting Gogoi, the Assam chief minister tweeted, "One of the MPs named in the list ( from Assam ) has not denied his prolonged stay in Pakistan—reportedly for two weeks—and credible documents show that his wife was drawing salary from a Pakistan-based NGO while working in India. In the interest of national security and beyond partisan politics, I urge Leader of Opposition Sri Rahul Gandhi not to include this individual in such a sensitive and strategic assignment."

The Congress MP denied these allegations. Recently, amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, Sarma charged that Gogoi's wife, Elizabeth Colburn, has "good relations" with the Pakistan Army and she had travelled 19 times between India and Pakistan. Sarma charged Pakistani Army officials accompanied her during these visits to the neighbouring country.