A new controversy has broken out in Assam politics after an AI-generated video posted by Water Resources Minister Pijush Hazarika stirred strong reactions from the Opposition. The issue comes a day after a heated debate in the Assam Assembly on the death of popular singer Zubeen Garg, a topic that has already divided political parties and sparked sharp exchanges.
The political tension began to rise again on Wednesday when Hazarika shared a digitally created video on Facebook. The video shows Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma driving a bulldozer and “chasing” Opposition leaders Akhil Gogoi and Debabrata Saikia. In the clip, both leaders are shown running to avoid the bulldozer. The post quickly caught public attention and added a new layer of controversy to the ongoing debate.
While sharing the video, Hazarika wrote that the Opposition tried to spread misinformation in the Assembly on Tuesday but was “overpowered” by the Chief Minister’s “strong and logical” speech. He also mocked the Opposition by saying that they had to “run away in embarrassment” during the discussion. 
Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia reacted strongly to the video. He said that he too had created an AI video but did not release it after his children advised him against doing so. Saikia said the video shared by the minister was an attempt to distract people from the real issues. He also accused the Chief Minister of not answering important questions about the circumstances surrounding Zubeen Garg’s death.
Akhil Gogoi, who did not attend Wednesday’s session, responded through Facebook posts. In one post, he compared the Chief Minister’s remarks with what he called the “actual reality.” In another post, he shared a video of his own speech from Tuesday’s session to remind people of the questions he had raised.
It has now been two months since Zubeen Garg passed away. The government continues to say that the investigation into his death is proceeding quickly, but the political argument around the case shows no sign of slowing down. Both the ruling party and the Opposition continue to claim that they performed strongly in the Assembly debate.
