Congress claims Himanta Biswa Sarma’s family holds undisclosed foreign properties and a Wyoming shell company, prompting the Assam Chief Minister to threaten legal action.

Raipur, April 5, 2026 — The Congress party has accused Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his family of concealing a ₹52,000 crore offshore financial empire.

Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera outlined the allegations on Sunday. He didn’t mince words. Khera accused Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan, of holding multiple foreign passports, acquiring undisclosed real estate in Dubai, and stashing massive funds in an American shell corporation.  

The Chief Minister flatly denied the charges. Within hours of the press conference, Sarma dismissed the claims as politically motivated lies and announced plans to file a defamation suit against Khera.  

The stakes are immense. Khera’s accusations, if proven true, represent severe violations of the Representation of the People Act, the Foreign Exchange Management Act, and India’s strict citizenship laws.

The primary allegation centers on citizenship. India does not permit dual nationality. An Indian citizen acquiring a foreign passport automatically loses their domestic citizenship.

Khera claimed that Riniki Bhuyan possesses passports from Egypt and Antigua, alongside a United Arab Emirates Golden Visa. Khera openly questioned the legality and the motive behind the alleged documents.  

“What is the need for Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife to hold three passports?” Khera asked reporters. “Are you some kind of criminal? Does Himanta himself have more such passports somewhere?”

The possession of an Antiguan passport serves as a specific red flag in Indian political and financial circles. Antigua and Barbuda offer citizenship by investment. Buyers simply purchase real estate or donate to a national fund, and they receive a passport offering visa-free travel to over 150 countries. Several high-profile Indian economic fugitives previously utilized the Caribbean nation’s passport program to evade extradition. Khera didn’t explicitly link Bhuyan to these fugitive figures, but the implication hung heavy in the briefing room. Holding an Egyptian passport is equally unusual for an Indian national unless tied to significant, direct investments in North Africa.

The second charge targets Sarma’s official election disclosures.

Every candidate contesting elections in India must file a sworn affidavit detailing their assets, liabilities, and those of their spouse. Concealing assets provides immediate grounds for disqualification from office.

According to Khera, Bhuyan owns two separate properties in Dubai. Sarma didn’t list either property in his recent electoral affidavits. Dubai real estate has long operated as a focal point for Indian investigative agencies tracking undisclosed wealth. Khera challenged the Election Commission to examine the omission. A false affidavit constitutes a criminal offense under Section 125A of the Representation of the People Act, punishable by prison time.

“The question is—why didn’t Himanta disclose his wife’s Dubai properties in the affidavit?” Khera asked.

But the most staggering financial claim points to the American Midwest.

Khera alleged the existence of a company registered in Wyoming named ‘H Riniki Nandi LLC’. According to Khera, the name operates as an amalgamation of the family’s first names: Himanta, Riniki, and their son, Nandil.

The Congress leader claimed this entity holds deposits amounting to $34.67 billion, or roughly ₹52,000 crore. He stated the company’s charter includes plans to expand into the hospitality sector and operate a hedge fund.

Wyoming reigns as America’s premier onshore tax haven. The state requires minimal disclosure to register a limited liability company. It doesn’t mandate the public listing of managers or members. Wyoming levies zero state corporate or personal income taxes. Financial watchdogs routinely classify the state as a prime destination for dark money and offshore wealth concealment. Creating an LLC there takes minutes and requires almost zero proof of identity.  

“Himanta Biswa Sarma has kept his money in shell companies set up in Wyoming,” Khera alleged. “Why Wyoming? Because there’s no tax here.”  

Like the Dubai properties, Khera noted that Sarma made no mention of this American LLC or the alleged billions in his sworn election filings. The Representation of the People Act demands total transparency. Voters have a right to know the financial standing of the people they elect. Omitting a massive shell company or prime overseas real estate isn’t a clerical error. It’s a calculated deception.

Sarma didn’t wait for the news cycle to end before striking back.

The Assam Chief Minister, known for his aggressive political style, immediately rejected the entire premise of the Congress press conference. He characterized the allegations as a desperate fabrication designed to damage his reputation. Sarma expressed absolute faith in the legal system and promised severe legal retaliation.  

“I have complete faith in the judiciary,” Sarma said in a brief statement. “Once the truth is established in a court of law, Shri Pawan Khera will face the consequences of his actions, and the law will take its due course.”

Sarma’s camp views the attack as a calculated smear campaign. Just 24 hours prior to Khera’s press conference, Sarma had publicly dared his political opponents, stating that no agency or authority could arrest him. Congress clearly timed Sunday’s data dump as a direct response to that challenge. Khera referenced the Chief Minister’s bravado directly, stating that Sarma would now have to “hide his face.”  

Congress isn’t treating this as a localized Assam issue. They’re dragging the central government into the fray.  

Khera aimed his final remarks directly at the top tier of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. He demanded an immediate response from Union Home Minister Amit Shah.  

“Home Minister Amit Shah, please respond,” Khera challenged from the podium. “Will he set up an SIT to investigate this matter?”

Will the central agencies bite? A Special Investigation Team would typically involve officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate, and the Income Tax Department. Congress argues that if the central government routinely deploys these agencies against opposition leaders for minor financial discrepancies, a ₹52,000 crore allegation against a sitting BJP Chief Minister warrants an immediate, multi-agency probe.

The demand corners the central leadership. Silence risks validating the opposition’s claim that central agencies act only as political enforcers against non-BJP targets. The Congress party maintains a list of opposition leaders who faced severe agency scrutiny, only for the investigations to stall once those leaders joined the ruling party. Sarma himself operated as a prime target of BJP corruption campaigns over the Louis Berger and Saradha chit fund cases during his Congress days. Those investigations quietly faded after he switched allegiances.

Sarma operates as the BJP’s primary political architect in the Northeast. He commands immense influence and spearheads the party’s election machinery across multiple states. Taking him down remains a primary objective for Congress.

Sarma’s threat of a defamation suit ensures this battle will move from the press room to the courtroom. A defamation trial requires hard evidence. Khera will be forced to produce the documents backing his claims. Sarma will be forced to defend his financial history under oath.  

Neither side can afford to blink.

Congress tied its credibility to a massive, highly specific financial figure. Sarma staked his political survival on proving it false. The next move belongs to New Delhi’s financial watchdogs, who must now decide whether to look into Wyoming, or look away.