Guwahati, April 30 Assam Cabinet Minister Pijush Hazarika on Thursday launched a sharp attack on the Indian National Congress, alleging that the party attempted to influence the 2026 Assam Assembly elections through fabricated documents in what he termed the “#KheraForgery” episode.
In a post on X, Hazarika said people should read the court argument transcript to understand how the alleged episode was a “sinister attempt” by the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee to alter an election that it was likely to lose.
He claimed the opposition had tried similar tactics earlier and alleged that doctored videos were circulated during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The minister further said the Congress believed the same “toolkit” would work in Assam in 2026, but claimed the alleged attempt was exposed within hours.
He also asserted that arguments made on behalf of Congress leader Pawan Khera did not rely on the authenticity of the disputed documents.
Hazarika alleged that the defence instead attempted to shift the focus by portraying the case as a political vendetta.
He said every alleged co-conspirator in the matter must be brought to justice and added that strict legal action was necessary to ensure that no political party attempts to win elections through “fakery and forgery”.
His remarks came after the Supreme Court of India on Thursday reserved its judgment on Khera’s petition seeking anticipatory bail in connection with a First Information Report registered by Assam Police.
The case stems from a complaint lodged by Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, wife of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, at the Guwahati Crime Branch Police Station. The complaint was filed over Khera’s public allegations that she possessed multiple foreign passports and had financial interests abroad.
The First Information Report invokes several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including provisions related to false statements in connection with elections, cheating, forgery of valuable security documents, forgery of public records, using forged documents as genuine, intentional insult, and defamation.
Khera had initially approached the Telangana High Court, which granted him one week’s transit anticipatory bail on April 10 to seek regular relief before the competent court in Assam.
Subsequently, the Supreme Court stayed the operation of the transit anticipatory bail and clarified that any plea filed before the competent court in Assam would be considered independently. It later declined Khera’s request to vacate the stay or extend interim protection.
Khera then moved the Gauhati High Court seeking anticipatory bail. The High Court rejected the plea, observing that the matter was not one of simple defamation and that custodial interrogation was necessary to ascertain the source of the documents cited by him.
--IANS
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