Guwahati, January 12, 2026 – Assam Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma launched a sharp and aggressive counterattack on Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi after the latter questioned “Who is Himanta Biswa Sarma?” during a public event in Guwahati.
Describing himself as “a simple Assamese boy from an ordinary middle-class family,” the Chief Minister strongly condemned the remark, accusing the Congress of insulting the Assamese community and identity.
In his fiery response, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma said:
“Who needs to shout ‘Who is Himanta Biswa Sarma’ so loudly? I am the son of my father and mother. I am just an ordinary boy. I am not such an important person that the people of Assam need to ask ‘Who is Himanta?'”
He further emphasized:
“Himanta Biswa Sarma is a simple boy from the ordinary Assamese middle class. The identity of the nation is greater than that. Assamese identity is greater. Should anyone ask an Assamese person in Assam ‘Who is he’? Would that make Miya Badruddin and Assamese Himanta the same? Tomorrow someone might ask Pradeep Baruah ‘Who is Pradeep Baruah’?”
The controversy erupted after Gaurav Gogoi, during a Congress joining programme on Sunday, invoked his father late Tarun Gogoi’s famous statement “Who is Badruddin?” and declared:
“My father Tarun Gogoi once said ‘Who is Badruddin?’ Today, Assam united will say ‘Who is Himanta?'”
Hitting back hard, the Chief Minister remarked:
“Should an Assamese person in Assam be asked ‘Who is he’? Gaurav Gogoi doesn’t ask the Miya community that. His father said ‘Who is Badruddin’, and today the son has to say ‘Who is Himanta’. He should have asked — my father said ‘Who is Badruddin’, so I should say ‘Who is Rejaul Karim’, ‘Who is Rakibul’? But he has turned it around to say ‘Who is Himanta Biswa Sarma’.”
Introducing himself, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma added:
“I am the son of the late Kailash Nath Sharma and Mrinalini Devi. Just search ‘Himanta Biswa Sarma’ on Google and you will get all the answers. Gaurav Gogoi’s question today makes it clear that the Congress is not with the Assamese people.”
The sharp war of words has significantly heated up Assam’s political atmosphere, with political observers warning that such exchanges are likely to deepen the divide between the ruling BJP-led government and the opposition Congress ahead of the crucial upcoming Assam Assembly elections.
The incident has once again brought the sensitive debate over Assamese identity, indigenous rights, and political rhetoric to the forefront of state politics.
