Himanta Sarma Warns Congress MP Of Legal Action Over Poll Bonds Charge

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday threatened legal action against Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi over his social media posts alleging corruption by the BJP through electoral bonds.

The Congress MP from Nagaon shared a post from a user claiming the Assam government had signed an memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a firm which has donated to the BJP. "As the #ElectoralBondScam unveils how deep rooted corruption in the BJP is, here is a case of how fraudulent 'development' has played out in Assam! Not long before the house of cards comes tumbling down," Mr Bordoloi said in a post on X.

Responding to the allegation, the Assam chief minister said his accusations were "devoid of any facts and are entirely baseless."

"Through these defamatory statements alleging quid pro quo between Govt of Assam and M/s Bright Star Investments, Hon'ble MP has invited grounds for legal action by the State. The Govt of Assam has absolutely no commercial linkage with the said firm. The MoU mentioned is only a philanthropic donation by the said firm to the state government for constructing the Pragjyotishpur Medical College, work on which is going on swiftly and will be dedicated to the people in the coming days," the chief minister said.

The Congress MP hit back at the chief minister by saying he welcomes any move to prosecute him. Doubling down on his allegations, Mr Bordoloi named another donor which he claimed was given a construction project under a similar deal.

"I certainly welcome any such move of the Govt of Assam to prosecute me for pointing out the tip of the iceberg of a huge racket called Electoral Bonds! It will provide opportunity to cross examine & have skeletons tumble out of BJP govt's cupboard. HCM (Hon'ble Chief Minister) ishould not forget that the EB (Electoral Bonds) scam has been unearthed on direction of the Hon'ble SC to invite public probity - integral to democracy," he said.