Assam CM Sarma to sue Congress leaders over land grab claims

The ruling BJP rejected the allegations as baseless, while Gogoi said Sarma's threat of defamation proceedings showed that the chief minister was "scared" due to the "details of his corruption and wealth"

Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi on Wednesday alleged that Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's family had grabbed around 12,000 bighas (over 3,960 acres) of land across the state, prompting the CM to announce that he would file a defamation case against top party leaders.

The ruling BJP rejected the allegations as baseless, while Gogoi said Sarma's threat of defamation proceedings showed that the chief minister was "scared" due to the "details of his corruption and wealth".

Addressing a press conference here, the Deputy Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha also claimed that the CM had raked up his alleged Pakistan links to "cover up" the land scam.

"The Congress has done an investigation, and it yielded some startling revelations. Almost 12,000 bighas of land have been occupied by the CM and his family across the state," he said.

Gogoi claimed that the figure is not final as the "investigation" is still going on.

"We still do not know how much land he has occupied across the state, we are counting and it is rising everyday. We have launched a website 'www.whoishbs.com' listing all his corruption and land grab details," he added.

He appealed to the public to share information related to land purchases by Sarma's family and inform the party to upload it in the website.

"He has occupied agricultural land and then changed the title to industrial land. Once the Congress government is formed after this Assembly elections, we will probe all these cases," he added.

Defamation case announced

Hours after Gogoi's allegations during a presser at the state Congress headquarters here, Sarma announced that he will file a defamation case against top Congress leaders for making "false and malicious" statements.

"I am initiating civil and criminal defamation proceedings on 9 February 2026 against @JitendraSAlwar, @bhupeshbaghel, @GauravGogoiAsm and @DsaikiaOfficial for making false, malicious and defamatory statements against me in today's press conference," Sarma said in a post on X.

Gogoi's press meet was also addressed by Leader of the Opposition in Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia, All India Congress Committee General Secretary (in-charge of Assam) Jitendra Singh and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

"The era of hit-and-run politics is over. If they have even an ounce of courage or evidence, let them prove every allegation before a court of law," Sarma said.

"I will not be intimidated by propaganda, coordinated slander, or political theatrics of so called slaves of Gandhi family," he added.

Reacting to the CM's defamation announcement, Gogoi said: "It is plain to see Himanta Biswa Sarma has got scared by our press conference today. Soon the details of his corruption and wealth will be made public in every village of Assam."

"If he has courage he should fight us in the court of public opinion instead of seeking refuge...I do not want to comment on hit and run," he added.

Other allegations

During the Congress press meet, Singh alleged that Sarma has "sold" Assam for his own political benefit.

"He has made selling Assam a family business. There are 17 companies owned by his family. He has given 40,000 bighas of land to Adanis, Ambanis and Patanjali. There is HBS Tax on every goods and items that contractors give to him for awarding projects," he alleged.

Baghel alleged that Sarma has "only cheated" the people of the state in the last five years.

"What (Narendra) Modi is doing in Delhi, Himanta Biswa Sarma is doing the same here. They are handing over all properties to Adanis and Ambanis, and creating hardship for the people," he added.

Saikia said despite the "propaganda" of the most successful CM of Assam, all the departments like education, health and PWD handled by Sarma since his Congress tenure are the "worst performing".

BJP response

Responding to the allegations of the Congress MP, BJP spokesperson Ranjib Kumar Sarmah told PTI that there is no truth in Gogoi's claims.

"What is the truthfulness of his statement? Is it possible to keep such a huge land when no individual can hold more than 50 bighas as per Indian laws? It is not possible due to the ceiling Act. That means Gogoi does not know the laws," he added.

Sarmah said the Congress leader's allegations have no ground reality and no basis.

"If Gogoi has any information, he should go to the court, as people had gone to court against Robert Vadra. People have knocked on the court's doors on issues starting from Bofors to Vadra cases. If you have documents, approach the court to expose.

"Our judicial system gives a platform to expose corruption. Gogoi is not doing it because the allegation is not true. He just wants to create some excitement with his baseless allegations, and nothing else," the BJP leader said.

Asked about the CM' recent claims to make public Gogoi's alleged Pakistan links, the Congress leader said, "Why did he not do it on September 10 last year? He has been sleeping for these five months and suddenly remembered my Pakistan links."

The CM had earlier announced that he would make public all evidence related to Gogoi's alleged links by September 10, 2025.