Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday threatened to take criminal action against Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for accusing his wife of corruption.
Sisodia had earlier held a press conference accusing Sarma’s wife Riniki Bhuyan Sharma of corruption during the first wave of the pandemic. Responding to Sisodia’s charges, Sarma took to Twitter to defend his wife.
He wrote, “At a time when the entire country was facing the worst pandemic in over 100 years , Assam hardly had any PPE Kits My wife took the courage of coming forward and donating around 1500 free of cost to the govt to save lives She didn’t take a single penny.”
Sarma added, “While you Mr Manish Sisodia at that point of time showed a completely different side. You refused my multiple calls to help Assamese people stuck in Delhi. I can never forget one instance when I had to wait 7 days just to get a Assamese covid victim’s body from Delhi’s mortuary.”
Also Read: AAP accuses Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma of corruption during pandemic
He concluded by threatening to take criminal action against AAP leader, adding that he would soon see him in Guwahati. “Stop sermonising and I will see you soon in Guwahati as you will face criminal defamation,” Sarma wrote on Twitter.
At a time when the entire country was facing the worst pandemic in over 100 years , Assam hardly had any PPE Kits
My wife took the courage of coming forward and donating around 1500 free of cost to the govt to save lives
She didn’t take a single penny. pic.twitter.com/ESPJ64qKen
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) June 4, 2022
Earlier, Sisodia had alleged that Sarma, then the home minister of Assam, had awarded emergency contracts to companies owned by his son’s business partner and wife Riniki Bhuyan Sharma to supply PPE Kits to the government. The company owned by Riniki Bhuyan Sharma was JCB Industries, which had no previous experience of making PPE Kits.
Sisodia had gone on to allege that though other governments were buying PPE Kits for Rs. 600, the BJP leader and health minister awarded the contract for Rs. 990 per kit.
Sisodia had alleged that even though the companies owned by the business partners of Sarma’s son failed to supply the PPE Kits, the Assam government awarded them a second contract at the rate of Rs. 1680 per PPE Kit.
