'Laughable questions': Assam CM Himanta Sarma’s wife slams Gaurav Gogoi over passport row; questions his wife

NEW DELHI: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, on Monday strongly denied Congress allegations that she holds foreign passports and has undisclosed assets abroad, as the political row escalated ahead of the 2026 Assam Assembly elections.Riniki Bhuyan Sharma rejected the allegations in a post on X and hit back at Assam Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi. “I’ll save you the suspense and answer these laughable questions myself, @GauravGogoiAsm. Here it is: Neither I, nor my children, nor my husband have any business interests or assets in Dubai or anywhere outside India. Now your turn. Can you disclose whether your wife has or has ever had a bank account in Pakistan? And will you make those details public?” she said “Also interesting how, within 24 hours, you’ve already climbed down from your claim of a ‘golden visa on an Egyptian passport’ to now talking about an ‘Indian passport,” she added.Reacting to Congress leader Pawan Khera’s allegations over her passports and the CM's election affidavit, Sharma accused the Opposition of running a sustained campaign to defame her family."It seems that a mad dog has bitten them and from the top rung of the Congress to the lowest rung, I believe that they don't have anything else to do except defaming people that too with AI generated and total photoshop. One more thing which they have done well is set up a playbook... It is an example set to the entire Assamese society by a very veteran party, which is very shameful. I think they have gone berserk... For the last two years, they have been doing every little thing to defame me, my daughter, my son, we are nowhere related to politics," as quoted by ANI.The row was triggered after Pawan Khera on Sunday alleged that documents suggested Sharma held multiple active passports, raising questions over possible violations of Indian law. He also sought an investigation into the chief minister’s alleged financial and property links abroad, claiming that his wife’s Dubai and US assets were not disclosed in official affidavits.Khera also questioned the chief minister’s stand on dual citizenship and said, “Himanta Biswa Sarma's entire politics is based on hatred against Muslims, but how does his wife hold passports from two Muslim countries? According to Indian law, you cannot hold dual citizenship, so does Rinki Bhuyan Sarma also hold an Indian passport? Is Himanta Biswa Sarma the adopted son of Amit Shah? And did the country's Home Minister know that his adopted son's wife holds 3 passports?”Assam Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi also targeted Sarma and called for further probe.As the row intensified, Himanta Biswa Sarma accused the Congress of relying on fake and externally sourced material to target his family.Addressing a press conference on Monday, Sarma alleged that the entire press conference conducted by Pawan Khera and Gaurav Gogoi was based on material supplied by a “Pakistani social media group”.He said both he and his wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, had filed an FIR against Khera over what he described as the use of “fraudulent documents." Sarma also claimed that the passports allegedly linked to his wife were fake.“The original UAE passport was uploaded on social media by a Pakistani man. They (Congress) did AI Photoshop in the passport. Tipu Sultan had uploaded the original passport on social media. The Egyptian passport is also fake. You can find out through Google Reverse,” Sarma said.He added that Pakistan-linked channels had recently broadcast multiple election-related shows favouring Congress.