Assam CM calls Pawan Khera "bhagora" over Congress' allegations on wife

Guwahati (Assam) [India], April 9 : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday hit out at Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera, calling him a "bhagora" (absconder).

"Where is this Congress party? Which Congress party? I have not even heard about it. Who is Pawan Khera? He is a 'bhagora' (absconder). Why do I need to reply to him?" said CM Sarma.

His remarks come in the backdrop of fresh allegations levelled by Pawan Khera against CM Sarma amidst the ongoing passport row.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, in a post on X, the Congress shared a self-made video of Khera from an "undisclosed location" levelling allegations of corruption against Sarma. Questioning the Assam CM, the party wrote, "If you have the guts, answer them."

In the video, Khera criticised the police action against him and demanded answers to his questions. Calling for an investigation into the matter, the Congress leader said that he won't be scared.

The remarks were followed by Congress' claims that the Assam Chief Minister's wife holds three passports, and Assam Police searched Pawan Khera's residence in Delhi. The searches followed the FIR lodged by Sarma's wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, into the matter on Monday.

Earlier, addressing a press conference in Guwahati on Monday, Sarma vowed to take "stringent action" against Pawan Khera.

"I will take stringent action against Congress leader Pawan Khera. Just wait for a few days. We will win at least 100 seats in the elections," the CM said.

CM Sarma further countered the allegations levelled by Congress, claiming that property documents used to link his family to apartments in Dubai were stolen from the document-sharing platform Scribd. He asserted that the Congress is "finished" in the state, while reiterating his allegations of Pakistani links in the ongoing passport row involving Congress leaders Gaurav Gogoi and Pawan Khera over claims related to his wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma.

This comes as voting begins in Assam. The voter turnout at 01:30 pm on Thursday in Assam was recorded at 59.6 per cent, as per the Election Commission of India.

Voters queued outside polling stations to cast their votes in a single-phase assembly election.

In Assam, more than 2.5 crore electors are eligible to exercise their franchise for the 126-member legislative assembly. There are 722 candidates in the fray.

Of 2,50,54,463 electors, 1,25,31,552 are male voters and 1,25,22,593 females. There are 318 voters in the Transgender category and 63,423 service voters.

Among the electorate, 6,42,314 voters are in the age group of 18-19 years, 2,50,006 are above 80 years of age, and 2,05,085 are persons with disabilities.

To strengthen the monitoring mechanism, webcasting facilities have been arranged in accordance with the Commission's directions, a release said.

Webcasting has been enabled in all 31,490 polling stations, including 31,486 main polling stations and 4 auxiliary polling stations. A total of 1,51,132 polling personnel have been deployed for the conduct of the election.

For polling purposes, 41,320 Ballot Units, 43,975 Control Units, and 43,997 VVPAT machines have been arranged, including reserves for emergency use. Additional polling personnel have also been kept in readiness, if required.

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