‘How can his wife have three passports?’ Congress attacks Himanta’s wife; Assam chief minister threatens defamation suit

New Delhi: Fresh political row breaks out in Assam after Congress leader Pawan Khera accuses chief minister Himanta Biswa SarmaHis wife holds multiple foreign passports, prompting sharp rebuttals and legal threats from the BJP leaders.The controversy began when Keira held a press conference in Delhi, where he claimed to have documents showing that Salma’s wife Riniki Bhuyan Sharma holds three passports. “We have documents showing that Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, holds three passports. The first is an Emirates Gold Card, the second is an Antigua and Barbuda passport and the third is an Egyptian passport. Two of them belong to Islamic countries but they still openly profess their religion,” he said.

Kayla escalated the attack by linking the issue to broader accusations. “What you see is a picture of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his wife. Their names have been linked to multiple allegations of land grabbing, misuse of temple funds, government subsidies and charity fund fraud. But today, we are filing documents that are directly related to matters outside India,” he said. He called it a “shocking detail”, adding that she had “not one, not two, but three passports, none of which have expired”.

‘Keira will face the consequences of his actions’: Himanta

Sarma denied the accusations were politically motivated and said he and his wife would file a defamation lawsuit against Khera within 48 hours. “Pawan Khera’s press conference today reflects the deep frustration and panic within the Congress party. As Assam moves decisively towards historic mandate, such desperate and baseless attacks only expose their decline,” he wrote on X.“I categorically reject every accusation made by him. These are malicious, fabricated and politically motivated lies designed to mislead the people of Assam,” he added, announcing legal action. “My wife and I will file criminal and civil defamation proceedings against Shri Pawan Khera within the next 48 hours. He will take full responsibility for his reckless and defamatory statements.”“I have full faith in the judiciary. Once the truth is found out in court, Shri Pawan Khera will face the consequences of his actions and appropriate steps will be taken by law,” he further wrote.

‘Assam’s embarrassment’: Gogoi

Assam Congress leader Gaurav also lashed out at Himanta and called for further investigation. “Shocking allegations have emerged relating to Himanta Biswa Sarma. Holding multiple passports and failing to disclose assets is a serious criminal offence. How much money did they send from Assam to bank accounts abroad? More investigation is needed,” he wrote, calling the chief minister “an embarrassment” who “will have to answer questions and pay for his crimes.”“Salma responded again, pointing out technical inconsistencies in the alleged documents. In a detailed post, he laid out what he called “serious discrepancies” that pointed to fabrication. These include a “surname mismatch – using ‘SARMA’ instead of the official ‘SHARMA'” and a photo that “appears to be a public image rather than a standard biometric capture.”Referring to Antiguan and Barbuda passports, he noted a “mismatch in validity dates between printed fields and machine readable zones”, while Egyptian passports allegedly showed “a mismatch in passport numbers… a misspelling (‘Egyptiann’) and incorrect Arabic reference information”.“These inconsistencies strongly suggest the possibility of fabrication or digital manipulation. The truth will prevail. Those spreading misinformation will be held accountable,” Sarma wrote. “I believe Pawan Hera’s disinformation campaign is coming to an end. Ultimately, Mr. Hera will go to jail,” he added.The escalating confrontation comes days ahead of Assam’s polls scheduled for April 9.