Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday urged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to drop his deputy in Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, from the list of four parliamentarians proposed by the opposition party for the delegations to be sent abroad to explain India's stand on Pakistan-backed terrorism.
Re-posting the list shared by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on X, Sarma said the MP from Assam should not be included in the all-party delegations "in the interest of national security".
Hitting back, Gogoi asked Sarma to make public any evidence he has against him.
"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," the CM alleged, without naming Gogoi directly.
"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," he added.
The other Congress leaders on the list shared by Ramesh are former minister Anand Sharma, Rajya Sabha MP Syed Naseer Hussain and Lok Sabha MP Raja Brar. The party said that it was asked by the government to submit the names of four MPs for the diplomatic outreach.
Gogoi asked Sarma to provide evidence for the allegations he was levelling.
"Why wait till September? He must be speaking on the basis of some proof. He can give those now and give the final proof in September," he said on Sarma's earlier assertion that evidence about Gogoi's alleged Pakistani links will be revealed by September 10.
"If we had gone (to Pakistan), when did we go – let him say that at least. Let him also say whether anyone from the BJP had also gone or not, or is it that only Congress went," he said.
Gogoi also asked the chief minister to give proof that no one from the BJP has business dealings with Pakistan or has married Pakistani nationals.
"Let him come out with the basis of his allegations so far. I don’t have a problem. We also want to know. I know the facts and hence, I am not reacting," he said.
Gogoi also questioned why the Centre was silent if he was indeed a threat to national security.
"He is jealous that there are no 18 companies in the name of my children. There are no tea gardens, resorts, or plots of land in my name or my family's name. He is only trying to malign me," he alleged.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)