Assam CM Himanta files ₹500 crore defamation case against Congress leaders over ‘land grabbing’ charges

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday filed a Rs 500 crore defamation case against Congress leaders for their “land grabbing” allegations against him and his family.

He accused Congress leaders Jitendra Singh, Bhupesh Baghel and Gaurav Gogoi of making “false, malicious and defamatory allegations” during a recent press conference, leading to the legal suit against them.

“Over the last few days, Congress leaders have been saying that I have benami land of 12,000 bighas (over 3,960 acres). I have filed a case in court so that they can submit the list before the court itself,” Sarma told reporters on the sidelines of an official event in Bongaigaon.

He said that if they cannot provide the list, they have to pay him Rs 500 crore, he added.

In a post on X earlier, the CM said, “Today, I have filed a defamation case seeking Rs 500 crore in damages against Congress leaders Jitendra Singh, Bhupesh Baghel and Gaurav Gogoi for making false, malicious and defamatory allegations against me through a press conference.”

Addressing a joint press conference here on February 4, state Congress president Gogoi had claimed that the party’s “investigation” has revealed that “almost 12,000 bighas of land have been occupied by the CM and his family across the state”.

Asked about Congress filing a police complaint in Guwahati against the BJP for circulating a controversial video featuring him on social media, Sarma said he will continue speaking up as he has been doing now.

“It is good that they have filed the case… What does communal mean? You all know who I am against,” the CM said, in an apparent reference to his stand against ‘illegal Bangladeshis’.

“What will happen to me if a case is filed? For me, white is white, black is black. They cannot frighten me. Sibani Bora, Diganta Barman, their malik Rahul Gandhi can file a case against me. My thumb to them,” Sarma added, showing his thumb to the camera.

Congress MLAs Bora and Barman lodged the complaint at Dispur Police Station in Guwahati on Tuesday against the Assam BJP for a video on its official social media handle, which showed Sarma purportedly taking aim with a rifle and firing a shot at two people, one wearing a skull cap and the other with a beard, with “point-blank shot” as the caption.

The video, posted on Saturday, was deleted after a massive political backlash.

Sarma had on Monday claimed ignorance of the video, even as Gogoi accused the CM of “inciting genocide” against Muslims through his videos, and urged the police to take suo motu cognisance.