The Congress party has leveled allegations against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, claiming that his wife’s firm, Pride East Entertainments Private Limited, received a credit-linked subsidy from the central government for the purchase of land. The controversy emerged following a report on a website called Cross Current, which alleged that the company, where Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, the Chief Minister’s wife, holds the majority stake, acquired nearly 10 acres of agricultural land in Kaliabor Mouza in February 2022.
According to the report, this land was converted into industrial property within months, and Pride East Entertainment applied for a subsidy under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana to establish a food processing unit. Allegedly, the Union food processing ministry approved a subsidy of ₹10 crore for the company on November 10 of the same year.
In response to these accusations, Congress Deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, took to social media to share what he claimed was evidence from the Ministry of Food Processing’s website, showing the subsidy allocation to Pride East Entertainments Private Limited.
In a swift rebuttal, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma refuted the allegations, stating that neither his wife nor her associated company had ever received financial subsidies from the Government of India. Despite the clarification, Gogoi remained unsatisfied, emphasizing that the ministry’s website displayed Riniki Bhuyan Sarma’s name and her association with the company in question. He even provided a link to the website showing a list of companies and promoters who had purportedly received the ₹10 crore subsidy.
Sarma reiterated his denial, stating with full responsibility that his wife and her company had not received any subsidies from the central government. However, he refrained from commenting directly on the document available on the ministry’s website.
The exchange escalated when Congress media and publicity department head Pawan Khera shared screenshots of the alleged subsidy list, which identified Sarma’s wife as the managing director of Pride East Entertainments Private Limited. Khera challenged Sarma to address the evidence.
Sarma, maintaining his stance, denied the allegations and reiterated that his wife and her company had not received any subsidies from the Government of India.
The controversy has ignited a public debate, with political figures from both sides engaging in a heated exchange on social media. It remains to be seen how this controversy will unfold and whether any further investigations or actions will be taken in response to these allegations.
