Assam Assembly polls in 2026 will be between 'India and Britain': Himanta

Guwahati, Jun 4 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said that the Assembly elections in 2026 will be fought between "India and Britain".

The comment, made a day after Gaurav Gogoi took charge as the state Congress president, was apparently an oblique reference to the Lok Sabha MP's British wife whom Sarma and the BJP have been attacking for her alleged connection with Pakistani spy agency ISI.

Addressing a press conference here, Sarma also said that around 2,000 Facebook accounts are commenting on the Assam Assembly elections, half of which have originated in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Referring to the citizenship of Gogoi's wife and children, the CM said, "In the family, there is one Indian and three foreigners. The fight (for the assembly election) will be between India and Britain. It will be about who is bigger -- India or Britain." No immediate comment could be obtained from Gogoi.

Assuming charge as the state unit chief, Gogoi on Tuesday launched his innings with the slogan 'Juz Hobo' (there will be a battle) as he urged party workers to prepare themselves for next year's assembly polls.

"Had Bhupen Kumar Borah (previous Assam Congress president) remained, there would have been a contest, but now there will be no fight at all. A lot more will come out on September 10," Sarma who heads a BJP-led government in the state, claimed.

The Assam CM earlier claimed that Gogoi's British wife Elizabeth Colburn had travelled 19 times between India and Pakistan.

Sarma has been claiming that the Assam government has documentary evidence to back up the allegation about Gogoi and his wife's close ties with Pakistan, and he will reveal everything publicly by September 10.

Asked about the difference between Gogoi and Sarma in the assembly polls, the CM said, "There is no foreigner at my home. All my type of skinned people are there at my home. So, there is a huge difference between him and me.

"I reached this position after a lot of struggle. My father was not a CM and I did not have a golden spoon at home." Sarma was alluding to the late Tarun Gogoi, the father of Gaurav Gogoi. The present CM was also a minister under Tarun Gogoi.

In the 2026 polls, the BJP will sweep because of the development programmes of the saffron party and the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"People also know that supporting Rahul Gandhi means supporting Pakistan. Voting in his name means voting for Pakistan. There is no option other than BJP in case of nationalism, identity and development," Sarma said.

He claimed that for India and Assam, the BJP is a necessity as the party has taken several major decisions like recovering land from encroachers, stopping child marriage, preventing rhino poaching and giving arms licences to indigenous people.

"For Assamese people, BJP is a compulsion. BJP follows Assamese culture and tradition. The Assamese people for the first time got their own government," he asserted.

Talking about social media campaigns, Sarma said around 2,000 Facebook accounts have started from a "particular date" and are now commenting on next year's assembly elections.

"Out of them, half have originated from Bangladesh and Pakistan. We have earmarked those and asked the Special Branch to look after those accounts and review accordingly," he added.

Sarma claimed that Pakistan's ISI wants "somebody" to win the election in Assam.

"These accounts belong to one community. There is a call centre also in Kolkata for this job," he added. PTI TR NN