Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has triggered a sharp political row by alleging that the mother of Assam Jatiya Parishad’s (AJP) Guwahati Central candidate Kunki Chowdhury made controversial social media posts that he described as “anti-national” and offensive to Sanatani sentiments. He also said the social media posts of Kunki’s mother Sujata Chowdhury Gurung show that she is a beef eater.
Speaking to journalists after a campaign rally in Khowang on Thursday (2 April), CM Sarma targeted Sujata Gurung Chowdhury, mother of the young AJP candidate contesting the Central Guwahati seat in the 2026 Assam Assembly elections. He stated he had “no objection” to her being a resident of Sikkim, but claimed her Instagram activity included photographs of beef consumption and remarks that hurt the religious and cultural feelings of the Assamese people, who traditionally revere cows and do not consume beef.
The Chief Minister further alleged that Gurung Chowdhury had openly supported jailed activists Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid, and she suggested that cutting off the “Chicken’s Neck” (the strategic Siliguri Corridor linking the Northeast to the rest of India) was “not wrong”. The CM added that in her Facebook posts, she allegedly questioned belief in Lord Krishna, and asked whether Pakistan was truly an enemy of India.
He described these views as raising serious concerns about national security and ideological alignment, and questioned why the AJP had chosen Kunki Chowdhury, a 26-year-old “Gen-Z” candidate with a master’s degree from London, for such a high-profile constituency.
CM Sarma also presented evidence of the alleged beef-related social media posts during the interaction. One of such posts mocked vegetarian food served by PM Modi in state dinners, and said, “As the highest office of our country serves the “vegetarian jhul momo” in their state dinner!! Back home in the hills, eons ago we just had “phaksha” (pork) momos and “langsha” (beef) momos. The chicken and veg ones came in much later when finally the purists thought that momo was food indeed!”
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Kunki Chowdhury and AJP hit back
The AJP candidate swiftly rejected the claims. In a strong rebuttal issued on Thursday, Kunki Chowdhury described the allegations against her and her mother as “entirely baseless” and “false”, accusing the ruling BJP of running a smear campaign. She added that the controversy had only boosted her visibility and resolve ahead of the polls.
Her mother, Sujata Gurung Chowdhury, also publicly asked the Chief Minister to fact-check his charges. The AJP framed the remarks as an attack on women’s dignity and a sign of desperation in the ruling party’s campaign.
Congress leader defends
Congress also joined the fray through its Assam in-charge, Jitendra Singh Alwa. The senior Congress leader, who serves as All India Congress Committee General Secretary and is in charge of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, posted a strong defence of Sujata Gurung Chowdhury and her daughter on X. He described Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s remarks as “baseless and disrespectful” and accused him of insulting Assam’s youth and its Gen-Z generation by targeting the youngest candidate in the ongoing Assembly elections. He further linked the controversy to a pattern of alleged attacks on Congress candidates in constituencies such as Katigorah and Jalukbari.
However, after it emerged that Suajata had actually made the comments, the Congress leader deleted the tweet.
