Akhil Gogoi is undergoing psychiatric treatment at Gauhati medical college: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Akhil contested in absentia while he was in jail. He was arrested for sedition charges in 2019 during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest in Assam. He was also slapped with charges for setting up bases for Maoist. He was brought to assembly on Friday to take oath as a MLA.

He had sought permission from the speaker to attend the proceeding for remaining days. Theassembly ended on Monday.

Sarma said, “How can a patient move around and attend the assembly proceeding. For the last four months he has been in the paying cabin of GMCH, he has psychological issues and is suffering from emotional imbalance.”

He said, “On Friday Gogoi was seen going to the desks of different MLAs inside the assembly. I asked the doctors if he is alright and if so why is he in hospital. Doctors told me that his problem is emotional imbalance and that is why he is undergoing treatment.”

The chief minister said that if Gogoi thinks he is fit; he should be in jail. “When speaker sought our opinion, we have stated a patient can be exposed like this. I asked Gogoi why he is moving from table to table, I felt if he could spread like this, Gogoi told me that the place where he is there is no COVID.”

Congress MLA Bharat Narah has raised the issue of Gogoi. He said that COVID protocols were violated while he was brought to assembly.

Sarma said, “Following the protocol, he was brought in a bus and not in a car. It was the responsibility of the government to bring him in the Assembly by maintaining proper COVID safety protocols”.

Gogoi complained that he was manhandled in the state assembly while he was proceeding for swearing in on Friday last. Gogoi floated his party Raijor Dal before polls and his party won the one seat.

Lok Sabha MP and Congress leader, Pradyut Bordoloi tweeted, “Belittling an opposition colleague #AkhilGogoi as a psychiatric patient in the assembly was not only a parliamentary impropriety but was also in extremely bad taste coming from a CM. Are you aspiring to go to the next level ? A statesman @himantabiswa??”