Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's children foreigners, police to summon him over Pak visit: Himanta

Dhubri/Bongaigaon (Assam): Claiming that Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's two minor children are not Indian citizens, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said the police will summon the opposition leader to record his statement on his visit to Pakistan several years ago.

On the sidelines of the panchayat election campaign, Sarma also posed a question on the religion of Gogoi's two children and asked him to respond to the allegation.

"Gaurav Gogoi's son and daughter are not Indians. I have solid proof with me. The children still don't know that they are not Indians. Their parents have made it like that," the CM told reporters.

As Gogoi's wife and two children are citizens of a foreign nation, there is a possibility of him leaving India and nobody will know it, Sarma claimed.

"Out of four members of the family, three are foreign nationals. He (Gogoi) is staying here as a tourist. His both children are minors and not Indian citizens. I will leave the CM's chair if he can say that his children are Indians.

"What is their religion, it is a big question. He should inform us about that also. Why is his wife staying in India while drawing a salary from Pakistan?" asked the BJP leader.

Last month, the chief minister had asked if the Congress MP had stayed in Pakistan for 15 days and whether his wife gets a salary from an NGO of the neighbouring nation.

"What was he doing there for 15 days? There is no tourist place, it is only a place for terrorists. Now, we are trying to find out what he was doing there for 15 days. There was no patriotic work for India in Pakistan," Sarma said on Friday.

He further said that Gogoi has to answer the police and court about his stay in Pakistan, and "we know how to get the answers".

"We are not taking his 15-day stay in Pakistan lightly. I know that he went to Pakistan once. But I am not able to know if he had visited more than once because he lost his passport in Israel. I doubt he had visited 2-3 times. Police will call him and get the answers by recording his statements. We got these details while enquiring a case of the Pakistani national," Sarma said.

Responding to the accusations, Gogoi said people have been watching everything.

"I am fighting with the CM for the people of Assam for issues that concern them. But the chief minister is fighting with me with issues that the people are watching," the Congress MP told reporters.

In March, the CM had said the state government may seek help from agencies like Interpol in investigating the alleged interference of Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, who is claimed to have links with Gogoi's British wife Elizabeth Colburn, in 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 Nyay Sanhtia (BNS) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).