'Will you still deny?' Congress asks Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma as wife's firm in spotlight

livemint.com:

Hindustan Times on 13 September. In a social media post, Congress Deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi alleged that the website of the Ministry of Food Processing shows Riniki Bhuyan Sarma’s firm Pride East Entertainments Private Limited receiving ₹10 crore as part of credit linked subsidy.

Refuting the claim, CM Sarma said, "Neither my wife nor the company she is associated with has ever received any financial subsidies from the Government of India." Now, unsatisfied with the clarification, Gogoi said the ministry's website clearly shows Riniki Bhuyan Sarma’s name and the company she is associated with. He posted a link to the website which purportedly shows the list of companies and promoters who have received the ₹10 crore subsidy.

Then CM Sarma again posted on 'X', saying he "would like to reiterate with full responsibility" that his wife and the company she is associated with have not taken any subsidy from the Centre. However, he refrained from commenting on the document available on the ministry's website.

Congress' accusation was based on a news report carried on a website namely Cross Current on Sunday, which alleged Bhuyan’s company ‘Pride East Entertainment’, in which she holds the majority stake, had purchased nearly 10 acres of agricultural land in Kaliabor Mouza (which falls in Gogoi’s constituency) in February 2022– nine months after Sarma had taken charge as the chief minister. In the report, it was further alleged that the agricultural plot was converted to industrial land within months and Pride East Entertainment applied for a subsidy under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana to set up a food processing unit and for that, the Union food processing ministry approved a subsidy of Rs.10 crore to