Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi officially took over as the new Assam Congress president on Tuesday. Representing Jorhat in Parliament and serving as a deputy leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, Gogoi was appointed head of the party’s Assam unit last week. He succeeded Bhupen Kumar Borah, who led the Assam Pradesh Congress for nearly four years, just ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled for 2026. Recently, Gogoi has been targeted by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has accused him of having ties with Pakistan’s spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Shortly after his appointment, Gogoi addressed these allegations, clarifying that his visit to Pakistan in 2013 was related to his wife’s professional work. Speaking to the media at the Congress office in Delhi, Gogoi explained that about 14-15 years ago, his wife, a renowned public policy expert, worked on a South Asian international climate change project and spent a year in Pakistan before returning to India around 2012-13. She later took a job in India in 2015.

Gogoi said, “I accompanied her on one visit around 2013. The ruling party is using this issue to defame me because their routine tactic is to malign opponents. They are producing a low-quality film on this topic, scheduled for release on September 10, which is likely to fail. The people of Assam are aware of the truth.”