'Startling confession' by Congress leader on Gaurav Gogoi's wife being on Pakistan govt 'payroll': Himanta Biswa Sarma

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday claimed that a senior Congress leader has made a "startling confession" that his party MP Gaurav Gogoi's British wife was on the "payroll of the Pakistan government". Sarma maintained that they were not "previously aware of these details" and the statement of Congress leader Ripun Bora will be recorded and further action taken in the matter.

The Assam CM and the BJP have been attacking Gogoi over his wife's alleged connection with Pakistan's spy agency ISI.

He said Gogoi's British wife Elizabeth Colburn had travelled 19 times between India and Pakistan.


Bora, a former Rajya Sabha MP, had on Sunday said Colburn works in an international NGO, which has a network in Pakistan and other countries.

"In this connection, she had received a salary from Pakistan and visited the country multiple times for work. But can this be grounds to question one's patriotism? Many Indians and Pakistanis are legally working in each other's countries," Bora was quoted as saying in a press release issued by the Congress.

"Yesterday, senior Congress leader Sri Ripun Bora made a startling confession - he admitted that the British wife of Hon'ble MP Sri Gaurav Gogoi was, in fact, on the payroll of the Pakistan Government," Sarma said in a post on X.

He maintained that if Bora's statement is true, "it raises deeply alarming questions about national security".

"The continued presence of an individual linked to a hostile foreign state - right within the inner circles of a sitting Member of Parliament - poses a serious and unacceptable threat to the integrity of India's institutions," Sarma maintained.

"We were not previously aware of these shocking details. Now that this revelation has come to light, the matter is being examined with the seriousness it demands," he said.

The chief minister asserted that national security is non-negotiable and added, "We will record Bora's statement and take further action in this matter."

Earlier, Gogoi had slammed Sarma over his accusation of the MP's alleged Pakistani links and questioned his mental state due to issues at the home front.

He even said the CM's remarks were "ridiculous, baseless, insane and nonsense" and that he was behaving like an "IT cell troll" without checking facts.