Amid the ongoing campaign for the 2026 West Bengal
Legislative Assembly election, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the BJP would ban the beef trade in West Bengal if it comes to power in the state. He also accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of “misleading people” regarding food habits.
A fresh political controversy erupted after the Indian National Congress alleged that the wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma possesses three foreign passports, triggering a sharp exchange between the ruling BJP and the opposition ahead of key political developments.The allegations were raised by Congress leader Pawan Khera, who claimed that Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, the Chief Minister’s wife, holds passports from multiple countries, including the UAE, Antigua and Barbuda, and Egypt. The Congress further alleged that she may have undisclosed foreign assets, including properties in Dubai, and demanded a thorough investigation into the matter.
The most direct issue in the upcoming Assam elections is the BJP’s plan to implement the
Uniform Civil Code (UCC) immediately if they return to power. During recent campaign rallies
in March 2026, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma
have made it clear that a win for the party is a mandate for this legal shift. The central goal is
to replace religious personal laws with one common law for everyone, focusing specifically
on a total ban on polygamy.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday (February 8, 2026) questioned Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi’s “suspicious” 10-day visit to Pakistan in December 2013 and his British wife Elizabeth Colburn Gogoi’s professional stint with a climate organisation in the neighbouring country.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday announced the launch of a financial assistance scheme for male students and a cash gift programme for women, ahead of the assembly elections in the state.
An anti-polygamy Bill tabled by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in the Assam Assembly on Tuesday prescribes imprisonment and heavy fines for people entering into, or hiding, a second marriage while the first continues to be valid.
The Congress on Wednesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party in Assam of “spreading venom” in society through a social media video, and urged the Election Commission to take note of it.
The Assam Cabinet on Wednesday (August 27, 2025) approved streamlining of the process to grant permission for land transfers between people belonging to different religions. The approval is aimed at ensuring more efficient processing and expeditious disposal of such proposals, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the media after the Cabinet meeting.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday announced that people above 18 years of age will not get first-time Aadhaar cards in the state as a precautionary measure to check illegal immigrants from getting Indian citizenship.
Assam presents a prism of exclusion these days. The BJP state government led by Himant Biswa Sarma has kicked off a major eviction drive in this north eastern state in the past month raising troubling questions.
