Not witch hunt, only national security interests: Himanta on Congress MP's wife's ISI-link allegation

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said he is not on a "witch hunt" over the controversy surrounding Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's British wife Elizabeth Colburn's alleged links with the ISI.

Reacting to a post on X by another Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi, Sarma on Tuesday said he is driven by national security, which cannot be compromised.

"You will be shocked in the coming months. Let me assure you, with all the responsibility vested in me, this is not a witch hunt. I, too, have served under Sri Tarun Gogoi, and I fully understand the gravity of such actions," the CM said.

Sarma and the BJP have been attacking Gaurav Gogoi, the Deputy Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, over Colburn's alleged connection with Pakistan's spy agency.

"What I am doing is driven solely by national security interests -- an area where there can be no compromise. I have taken an oath to protect the security and sovereignty of our nation, and I will uphold it, no matter what," Sarma asserted.

"This is a duty that transcends politics and personal ties -- this is about our country," he added.

Bordoloi had in a post on Sunday said, "People of Assam will never buy such a hypothesis of his #Government and would give a befitting reply to such #Skulduggery politics of @himantabiswa in the earliest opportunity they get in the near future." Earlier on Tuesday, Gogoi slammed Sarma, asserting that the BJP leader's fear of losing the 2026 assembly polls is the main reason behind the recent developments.

The Assam Police on Monday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe a case against Pakistan national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh for his social media comments on Assam and India's internal affairs.

Sheikh, an advisor of the Pakistan Planning Commission and a former colleague of Colburn, was charged under various sections of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

After much hue and cry over Colburn's alleged ISI links, the Assam Cabinet had on Sunday decided not to register any case against the parliamentarian or his British spouse, but instructed the DGP to file an FIR against the Pakistani national.

The state government also announced that it will write to the Centre for probing Colburn's participation in Lok Sabha campaigns in the erstwhile Kaliabor constituency, which was won by the Congress MP twice, despite being a British citizen.

Softening his stand on Gogoi, Sarma had on Sunday said the opposition leader may be "trapped or blackmailed" in the larger "anti-India" conspiracy and expressed sympathy for him.

The BJP leader had last week targeted the Assam MP over the issue, demanding answers regarding the allegations of ISI links, "leading young individuals to the Pakistan embassy for brainwashing and radicalisation, and the refusal to take Indian citizenship for the past 12 years", referring to Colburn's nationality.

He had also alleged that the Deputy Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha had raised questions in Parliament on sensitive defence matters after his marriage with the British citizen, a charge termed by the opposition leader as "false accusation".

Gogoi had dubbed allegations about his wife's links with Pakistan and the ISI as "laughable and entertaining".

He also said on Friday that the BJP went to extreme steps to defame him and his family, and asserted that he would be taking appropriate legal action.