Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday said that targeting the family and children of the party's state unit president, Gaurav Gogoi, over his alleged Pakistan link by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was "wrong politics".
Vadra, who is the Congress screening committee chairperson for the coming Assembly polls in Assam and is on a two-day visit to the state, said that Gogoi, who is also a Lok Sabha MP, is being targeted as he practices "positive politics".
Earlier this month, CM Sarma, while disclosing details of a special investigation team (SIT) probe into Gogoi's alleged links with Pakistan, had named the MP's British wife and the couple's two minor children, citing their passport details and religious affiliations.
Gogoi, who is the son of former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, has denied any links with the Pakistani establishment but admitted that he had visited the country in 2013, prior to becoming an MP for the first time a year later, with his wife, who was earlier posted there and was at that time based in the Delhi office of the same climate action group.
"The way Gaurav and his family are being targeted, it should be an example to show that this type of behaviour is wrong politics. No one's family or their children should be targeted like this with false accusations. People of Assam know this. It shows that the CM is scared of Gogoi, who is a gentleman and has a positive outlook and wants to do good for the people of Assam," Vadra told journalists in Guwahati.
{{/usCountry}}"The way Gaurav and his family are being targeted, it should be an example to show that this type of behaviour is wrong politics. No one's family or their children should be targeted like this with false accusations. People of Assam know this. It shows that the CM is scared of Gogoi, who is a gentleman and has a positive outlook and wants to do good for the people of Assam," Vadra told journalists in Guwahati.
{{/usCountry}}Vadra said that there are two types of leaders in politics: one who carries a positive mindset about development and how to protect the state's culture and identity, and the other kind, who indulges in polarisation and focuses on targeting others and their families. She said that the Congress and its leaders have been facing such false allegations and cases for years for standing for truth, trying to do positive politics, and working for the development of the people.
Vadra stated that Sarma should focus on Assam and its people instead of crying foul about how his chances of becoming the Chief Minister of a Congress government in the state came to naught due to alleged interference by party leader Rahul Gandhi.
"One should ask the Assam CM to talk about the people of the state and development. He should say what he has done for the people of Assam and what his plans are for the next five years instead of crying over something that happened over 10 years ago. In politics, sometimes some decisions go in your favour and some against; one should learn how to face them," she said.
Vadra accused the BJP-led government in Assam of indulging in large-scale corruption.
"The wealth they are accumulating and the big land plots which they are giving to their big industrialist friends are resources which belong to the people of Assam. The people of the state are watching this and know what's happening. They now know that the time for change has come," she said.
Assembly polls in Assam are likely to be held in April, and the BJP-led government is attempting to come to power for a third consecutive term.