Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has declared that whatever belongs to his wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, will “eventually be given to the people of Assam” by way of a will. As per his election affidavit in 2021, his wife has immovable and movable assets worth over Rs 14 crore.
Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, an entrepreneur, is the managing director of Pride East Entertainments Private Limited, the parent company running two news channels, three entertainment channels, and one Assamese news daily.
In September last year, the opposition Congress alleged that Riniki Bhuyan Sarma’s company was approved for a grant of Rs 10 crore under the central government’s Kisan Sampada scheme. Sarma denied the allegation and vowed to quit politics if the charges against her could be proved. Riniki then filed a Rs 10 crore defamation suit against Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi for making this charge.
“Whatever Riniki Bhuyan Sarma has owned will be given to the people of Assam, no one else will take it. Whatever she has, so far, has been dedicated to the people — the broadcast channel News Live would also be willed for the people of Assam, nothing would be kept for my son and daughter… Read the will later and you would know,” Sarma told reporters in the Assembly Monday, after launching the National e-Vidhan app for digital efficacy.
He, however, asked whether gains in business should be “thrown into the water”. “One must do something while he or she is alive,” he added.
Among his wife’s properties, the chief minister mentioned a particular resort without naming it, and the Vandya International School in Amingaon, North Guwahati, apart from plots in Guwahati. “The land in Ganeshguri (Guwahati) has a Sai Baba temple now, and we are building a Shiv temple on another property at Zoo Road… The Vandya International School would one day belong to the people of Assam, and also the resort. My children don’t need anything. Everything will stay here,” Sarma said.
CM covering up corruption, says Congress
The Congress was quick to react Monday with Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) chief Bhupen Borah saying the chief minister was merely trying to “cover up corruption” with “lies and by creating an emotional atmosphere”. Borah demanded Sarma should make public the properties he wanted to include in the will and submit the will deed to the state chief secretary.
“The way he assumed the role of a spokesperson, defending his wife’s business assets, only proves my allegations are true,” said Borah. He added when the Congress forms a government, a special investigative team (SIT) would be constituted to look into alleged corruption and malpractices during the BJP rule.
“When we form the government in 2026, we’ll constitute an SIT to look into the unnatural accumulation of wealth during the BJP government’s tenure, seize the properties identified by the SIT, sell them off and deposit the money in the state treasury,” Borah announced.
List of properties owned by ‘spouse’
As per Himanta Sarma’s election affidavit in 2021, the assets listed under “spouse” included non-agricultural land plots at four places in Guwahati and North Guwahati, of which one plot was an “inheritance” from Riniki Bhuyan Sarma’s father.
The affidavit further listed two residential buildings in Guwahati, one of which stands on the inherited land. One of the buildings has been leased to a charitable trust, the election affidavit mentioned. Businesses include the Pride East Entertainments media trust besides “JCB industries”. While the movable assets for his spouse amount to over Rs 10.17 crore, the immovable assets are of Rs 4.30 crore.
