‘Himanta is the most corrupt in the country’: Rahul Gandhi supports Pawan Kheda as passport controversy escalates. india news
New Delhi: Even as the dust has settled on Assam’s election campaign, Monday saw a heated exchange between Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the Congress, with Rahul Gandhi calling the Assam CM “the most corrupt in the country” who is “misusing the power of the state to harass his political opponents”.Supporting his party colleague Pawan Khera, whose Delhi home was raided by Assam Police following an explosive claim against Himanta’s wife, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha said “Congress stands with Pawan Khera” and “the party will not be intimidated”.“The current CM of Assam is the most corrupt in the country. He will not escape the law. It is against the Constitution to misuse the power of the state to harass his political opponents and critics.” The questions being raised should be investigated. Transparency, accountability of power and rule of law are the foundation of our constitutional values. Congress party stands with Pawan Kheda. We will not be intimidated,” Rahul Gandhi wrote against Himanta, who switched from Congress to BJP in 2016.Himanta was on edge after Khera alleged at a press conference that the Assam Chief Minister’s wife held multiple foreign passports, following which the BJP leader issued a sharp rebuttal and issued legal threats.Kheda said, “We have documents that show that Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, holds three passports. The first is a UAE Golden Card, the second is an Antigua and Barbuda passport and the third is an Egyptian passport. Two of these are from Islamic countries, yet they continue to publicly claim religious observance.”Later, Sarma rejected the claims as politically motivated and said that both he and his wife would file a defamation case against Khera within 48 hours. He wrote onAs the confrontation started worsening, the Telangana High Court granted anticipatory bail to Khera in the case registered against him over his alleged derogatory remarks against CM Sarma and his wife.