Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma alleges foreign meddling in polls, cites 5,000 suspect FB accounts

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday stated that certain fundamentalist elements have entered Assam ahead of next year's elections, with around 5,000 Facebook accounts suddenly becoming active. These accounts are primarily from foreign countries.

Sarma informed media persons in Guwahati that over 5,000 social media accounts have been activated in the last month, specifically liking activities of the Assam unit of the Indian National Congress and a particular leader of the party, and pushing comments.

"Forensic audits of about 2,092 such Facebook accounts revealed that most of them are from outside the country. Around 700 accounts are from Bangladesh, 350 from Pakistan, 50 from the Middle East, 35 from Afghanistan, and others from countries like France, Albania, and Australia," Sarma said.


Sarma emphasised that this is the first time Assam is witnessing such significant foreign involvement in its elections. "Analysis of these accounts showed they all post hardline content on social media. Apart from posting hardline content, they specifically like the activity of the Assam unit of the Indian National Congress and one leader of Assam. We have also informed the Central government about this as it concerns national security," he added. He further explained, "Accounts traced to Bangladesh are typically pro-Md. Yunus and post such content. Those from Pakistan basically endorse pro-Shahbaz Sharif posts, and a section also supports the earlier regime of Imran Khan. These accounts do not even comment on or like posts by Rahul Gandhi, but they are active whenever there is an activity from the Assam unit of the Congress and one particular leader of the party in Assam." Sarma added that it's "interesting that all these accounts are from countries located in different time zones, they all must be connected by a WhatsApp group and they are instructed to like or post comments. A more detailed investigation is needed to unearth the facts."

Sarma elaborated, "They only post hardcore Islamic fundamentalist content, often mixing it with political narratives around Assam. When not posting about Assam, they share content related to Iran, Iraq, Palestine, or religious subjects like Umrah." He also mentioned that many of these accounts are newly created and often list their location as IIT Guwahati to gain credibility. "We checked with IIT Guwahati and found no record of such individuals. Two of the exposed accounts were traced back to Bangladesh and Pakistan," he said.