Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said he has filed a civil defamation case seeking Rs500 crore in damages against senior Congress leaders Jitendra Singh, Bhupesh Baghel and Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi.

The chief minister accused the three leaders of making false, malicious and defamatory allegations against him during a press conference held in Guwahati last week.

In a post on X on Tuesday afternoon, Sarma said he has approached the court over what he described as baseless accusations levelled against him in the public domain.

“Today, I have filed a defamation case seeking Rs500 crore in damages against Congress leaders Jitendra Singh, Bhupesh Baghel and Gaurav Gogoi for making false, malicious and defamatory allegations against me through a press conference,” Sarma wrote.

The legal action follows the Assam Congress’s launch of a website titled “Who Is HBS” on February 4, along with the circulation of a pamphlet accusing the chief minister of corruption, misuse of power and disrespect towards cultural icons.

The website, which sought details of Sarma’s alleged assets, was later allegedly hacked after its launch.

Congress leaders had also claimed that the chief minister and his family owned around 12,000 bighas, or nearly 4,000 acres, of land, alleging that rules were manipulated to convert agricultural land into industrial land.

Sources said the defamation case has been initiated at the Kamrup District Civil Court, with further proceedings currently underway.

Meanwhile, the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee on Tuesday lodged a police complaint at Dispur Police Station against the BJP and Sarma, alleging misuse of artificial intelligence to malign Gaurav Gogoi and targeting Muslims through a now-deleted video referred to as the “point blank shot” clip.

APCC senior spokesperson Gopal Sarma alleged that the BJP was engaging in what he described as “the worst kind of colonisation of politics” in Assam ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. He also claimed that an AI-generated video was circulated portraying a person from a religious minority as Gogoi.

Responding to the police complaint, Sarma said he would continue speaking openly and was not intimidated by legal action.

“It is good that they have filed the case. What does communal mean? You all know who I am against,” the chief minister said.

“For me, white is white and black is black. They cannot frighten me. Anyone can file a case against me,” he added.

The video in question, posted on Saturday, was deleted following a political backlash. Sarma had on Monday said he was unaware of the video.

The opposition has submitted a notice seeking the removal of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, accusing him of partisan conduct and repeatedly denying opposition leaders the opportunity to speak in the House.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said on Tuesday that the notice was filed under Article 94(c) of the Constitution, which provides for the removal of the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha through a resolution passed by a majority of the total membership of the House.

According to parliamentary sources, the notice has been submitted to the Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha and will be examined and processed in accordance with established rules and procedures.

Opposition alleges bias and denial of speaking time

Addressing reporters after filing the notice, Gogoi said the motion expresses no confidence in the Speaker and reflects concerns shared by multiple opposition parties.

He said the Leader of the Opposition, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, has been repeatedly denied permission to speak in Parliament, adding that this has been a persistent issue throughout recent sittings of the House.

Opposition parties have accused the Speaker of favouring ruling party members, particularly in matters related to allotment of speaking time and permitting or blocking remarks critical of the government.

Article 94(c) procedure and timeline

Under Article 94(c), a motion for removal of the Speaker requires a minimum 14-day notice period before it can be taken up for consideration in the Lok Sabha.

Given the remaining calendar of the current session, the motion is unlikely to be tabled before the session concludes on February 13. Parliament is scheduled to reconvene for the next session on March 9.

Recent parliamentary standoffs add to tensions

The notice comes amid escalating tensions between the government and the opposition during recent sittings of Parliament.

Last week, Rahul Gandhi was denied permission to read from former Army chief General M M Naravane’s memoir during a discussion related to the 2020 Ladakh border standoff with China. This decision triggered strong protests from opposition members inside the House.

The situation further deteriorated after repeated adjournments of both Houses over the past two weeks, with protests disrupting proceedings and leading to the cancellation of a scheduled Lok Sabha speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Allegations involving BJP MPs and Speaker’s remarks

Sources said the opposition’s notice highlights three key issues, including the Speaker’s refusal to allow Rahul Gandhi to read from the former Army chief’s book, while BJP MP Nishikant Dubey was permitted to read from books critical of the Congress and the Gandhi family.

During that episode, the presiding officer reportedly asked Dubey to stop, but the BJP MP continued. Opposition parties have questioned the absence of disciplinary action in that instance.

The notice also refers to the Speaker’s remarks alleging that some women opposition MPs had planned to take action against the Prime Minister inside Parliament. Om Birla later said he had advised the Prime Minister not to enter the House after women MPs from the Congress were seen near the Prime Minister’s seat holding banners.

The move to submit a no-trust motion against the Speaker underscores the deepening mistrust between the ruling party and the opposition, with parliamentary functioning increasingly affected by confrontations and protests.

BJP corporator Ritu Tawde is set to take over as the next Mumbai mayor, marking a significant political shift in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). This will be the first time in 25 years that the mayor’s post will not be held by the Shiv Sena.

Tawde, who represents Ghatkopar, has previously served as chairperson of the BMC’s education committee. Her name was announced by BJP leader Amit Satam on Saturday.

Shiv Sena to hold deputy mayor’s post

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shankar Ghadi will be the Deputy Mayor of Mumbai. Elected from Ward No. 5 in the January 15 civic elections, Ghadi will serve a 15-month term. The Shiv Sena has decided to rotate the deputy mayor’s post among four of its corporators.

Ghadi was among the leaders who joined Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s faction in 2022, a move that led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

The Shiv Sena announced Ghadi’s candidature through party leader Rahul Shewale.

BJP-led alliance crosses majority mark

In the 227-member civic body, the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats, while the Shiv Sena secured 29 seats. Together, the ruling alliance has 118 corporators, comfortably crossing the majority mark of 114 and ensuring control over the mayoral post.

The Shiv Sena (UBT), which governed the BMC continuously since 1997, won 65 seats. Its allies, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction), secured six and one seats, respectively.

The Congress won 24 seats, AIMIM eight, the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) three, and the Samajwadi Party two seats.

Civic polls held after nine-year gap

The high-stakes BMC elections were conducted after a nine-year gap. The civic body had been under a state-appointed administrator since March 7, 2022, following the end of the previous term.

The BMC remains the country’s richest civic body, with its budget for the 2025–26 financial year pegged at Rs 74,450 crore.