BJP Claims Gaurav Gogoi Asked Questions In LS At Pak High Commission's Behest; Cong MP Nixes Charge

Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, the MP from Assam's Jorhat, hit back at the BJP and threatened to take legal action against the party.

New Delhi:The BJP Friday sharpened its attack on Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, alleging that while his wife has links with ISI, the deputy leader of opposition in Lok Sabha asked questions in the House on maritime security at the behest of the Pakistan High Commission. Gogoi, the MP from Assam's Jorhat, hit back at the BJP and threatened to take legal action against the party.

"The BJP has gone to extreme steps to defame me and my family. Their allegations are malicious and baseless. I will be taking the appropriate legal action," he said in a post on X. Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, BJP national spokesperson Ajay Alok alleged that before marrying Gogoi in 2013, Elizabeth Colburn was an "ISI supporter" and had also worked with Pakistan Planning Commission vice chairman Ali Tauqeer Sheikh.

"Did he know about this before marrying her?... Was it a strategic marriage?" he asked. "The Congress will have to answer the question in this issue. It is because the Congress has had an anti-national stance since the beginning." Alok asked Congress president Mallikarjubn Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Gogoi to come out with a clarification on the matter.

The BJP national spokesperson alleged that Gogoi had visited the Pakistan High Commission after he was elected to Lok Sabha in the 2014 parliamentary elections without seeking permission from the Lok Sabha Speaker, Home Ministry and other related ministries. After he visited the Pakistani High Commission, Gogoi's organisation 'Policy for Youth' wrote an article in a newspaper accusing BSF personnel of misbehaving with "illegal women Bangladeshi intruders".

Gogoi also asked questions in Lok Sabha such as 'what is the status of coastal maritime security? How many radars have been installed along the Indian coastline and how many more radars do we (the government) want to install there?' the BJP spokesperson said, adding that it is on record.

Other questions that Gogoi asked in the Lok Sabha included 'Is there any proposal that the national maritime authority will coordinate with stakeholders for synergy? What steps has the government taken for supervenience as well as upgrade and strengthening of the coastal security?' he charged.

"Asking these questions after getting them from the Pakistan embassy. What does it indicate? With whom was he sharing this information?" Alok asked. Two days ago, the BJP accused Gogoi's wife of having links with Pakistan and the ISI, a charge rejected by the deputy opposition leader in the Lok Sabha as "laughable and entertaining".

The charge was reiterated by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma a day later, who also claimed that the Congress MP raised questions in Parliament on sensitive defence matters after his marriage to a British citizen.