Assam CM claims thousands of foreign social media accounts favour state Congress

Hindustan Times

3 hours ago

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday alleged that more than 5,000 social media accounts, run mostly by Islamic countries, are favouring the Congress party's state unit.
Addressing a press conference, Himanra Sarma claimed that accounts from 47 countries, largely from Pakistan and Bangladesh, have been focusing on the activities of a particular Assam Congress leader and the unit's actions over the past month.
"It is surprising that they do not comment on or like posts by Rahul Gandhi or even the Indian National Congress. They are only focused on a particular leader and the Assam Congress," the Assam CM was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
While Sarma did not name the particular leader of the Congress's state unit, it appeared that he was referring to Gaurav Gogoi.
Gogoi was appointed as the president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee in the last week of May.
"We are not concerned with the change in the party's leadership in the state, but this development has taken place in the last month and there must be some link," the CM said.
"For the first time, there is so much foreign involvement in Assam politics in the run-up to the 2026 assembly elections," he added.
These social media handles, other than Assam, also reportedly post content related to Islamic fundamentalists, including those of pro-Palestine, Iran, and Bangladesh's chief advisor Mohammad Yunus.
Further, Sarma said that the central government has been informed of the issue which, he said, is of "national security".
Noting that some of the 5,000 accounts are being run with their location marked as Guwahati, the Assam CM said, "We are not ruling out that some of the accounts may be from within the state."
"The locations are disclosed in the accounts, and we conducted a forensic audit of those who had joined in the last month," Sarma added.
He said the forensic audit found that 700 accounts are from Bangladesh, 350 from Pakistan, 246 from Saudi Arabia, 86 from Kuwait, and 35 from Afghanistan.
He raised an alarm, citing concerns that over 5,000 social media accounts were opened in a month, "and they are commenting and liking posts related to Assam".
The Assam CM claimed that there is also information that some people from outside have rented accommodations in two localities in Guwahati, and have connected with YouTubers and social media influencers for the same.
"Surveillance is being kept on them. Fundamentalist elements have entered Assam and are active in the run-up to the elections," Sarma added.
Further, the CM alleged that these social media accounts have also made inroads into some digital media organisations in the state.
Sarma claimed that there also existed plans for setting up a call centre in Kolkata to carry out these activities.
The Assam CM said it is also possible that these social media account holders are connected through WhatsApp and other messaging apps, as they are all from different countries and time zones.
Further, Sarma claimed that Muslims from Assam, indigenous or migrants, will not post any such content.
In the next stage, Sarma asserted that these social media accounts may even take shadow Hindu names like "many do to marry Hindu women".
The Assam chief minister noted that Assam and the North East have always been on the international fundamentalist radar, and hardcores have always had the "unfinished agenda" of severing the 'chicken neck' to make the state a part of Bangladesh.
"We are in a very critical situation and the entire matter is being looked into from the national security angle", Sarma added.