Congress asked to meet "Maulanas": Assam CM slams Pawan Khera over Dhaka cleric photo controversy

Guwahati (Assam) [India], February 11 (ANI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday hit back at Congress leader Pawan Khera after he shared a purported picture of the CM with a Bangladesh-linked "Maulana", claiming that the photo sharing was "a case of the arrow boomeranging back" and that he was asked to meet "Maulanas" during his time in Congress.
Khera had shared a post on X, stating that, he was sent a picture of the CM with Chistia Saidia Darbar Sharif in Dhaka, who he alledged had links to pro Pakistan formation Jamaat-e-Islami-led coalition and Aalia Madrasa, and raised questions about circumstances of the meeting, and if "there was nothing suspicious about it, why was it not disclosed proactively?"

Asserting that the same "Maulana" had previously met with former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and his son, state Congress President Gaurav Gogoi, Sarma shared a post on his official X account saying, "Shri @Pawankhera ji is publicly sharing my photo with a Maulana. This is actually a case of the arrow boomeranging back. For his information, let me clarify that the same Maulana had come to the residence of the respected Tarun Gogoi ji when he was Chief Minister, and had also met his son Gaurav Gogoi."

श्री @Pawankhera जी मेरा फोटो एक मौलाना के साथ सार्वजनिक कर रहे हैं। यह तो उल्टा तीर वाली बात है। उनकी जानकारी के लिए बता दूं कि वही मौलाना श्रद्धेय तरुण गोगोई जी के मुख्यमंत्री आवास पर आए थे और उनके बेटे गौरव गोगोई से भी मिले थे।

और एक बात, जब मैं कांग्रेस में था, मुझे कई… pic.twitter.com/yY3nBCGYzl

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) February 11, 2026

Sarma further claimed that during his time in the Congress party, he was frequently asked to meet various "Maulanas", citing it as one of the contributing factors for his decision to leave the party.
It can be noted that Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma left the Congress Party to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2015 over ideological differences.
The photo row comes amid a sharpening of attacks between the ruling BJP and the Congress ahead of the 2026 Assam Assembly elections.
Earlier, Sarma had made sharp allegations against Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, claiming that his wife, Elizabeth Colburn Gogoi, has Pakistani links, which were refuted by Gogoi as "mindless and bogus points".
Amid the heated debate, Sarma also announced that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into alleged links involving Gaurav Gogoi and his wife with Pakistan-based individuals would be transferred to a central agency.
On Monday, he described the development as a "significant step in exposing a broader Pakistan-linked network aimed at destabilising India through proxy actors".
"Today marks a significant step in unearthing a global nexus to destabilise India by Pakistan and its proxy players. I have placed on record, to the people of Bharat, the deep conspiracy hatched by Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, a Pakistani national to embed an agent Elizabeth Coleburn to study India's development and find ways to derail it through environmental activism," Sarma wrote on 'X'.
The Chief Minister further alleged that Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, son of a former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, played a role in this network, either directly or indirectly.
According to Sarma, Gogoi facilitated these activities by allegedly sourcing sensitive parliamentary information, undertaking undisclosed travel to Pakistan, and maintaining links with Pakistani officials under the pretext of youth exchange programmes.
Gaurav Gogoi slammed CM Sarma for disclosing information about his children, calling him unfit for the Chief Ministerial position.
He said, "He went to such a low level that he even disclosed information relating to my children. We also know about his children; everyone knows it, but we don't want to disclose it. He has proved that he is not the right person to be in the Chief Minister's chair. What they are saying has shamed Assam. Why are they spreading false information? The Supreme Court should take a suo-motu case against it."
The Congress MP alleged that CM Sarma's family illegally held 12,000 bighas (nearly 4,000 acres) of land across Assam. While he agreed to cooperate with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the matter, he demanded that the SIT report be released.
Gogoi said,"The main fact behind yesterday's long press conference is the Congress party's rising popularity...If it were a matter of national security, why was he (Assam CM) sitting idle for the last six months? The CM was forced to hold a press conference after the Congress party disclosed that 12,000 bighas of land are held by the CM's family."
On Tuesday, Sarma filed a defamation case seeking Rs 500 crore in damages against Congress State President Gaurav Gogoi, AICC General Secretary Jitendra Singh and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel for allegedly making "false" and "malicious" allegations against him. (ANI)