




Assam's ad budget tripled after Himanta Biswa Sarma became CM, and the CM's wife's media company got a slice of it.
Pride East Entertainment, run by Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, received nearly Rs 20 crore in government ads between 2021-22 and August 2024, more than double what it got across the previous 11 years put together. The overall state ad spend jumped from Rs 145 crore to Rs 460.82 crore in the five years since Sarma took office, most of it going to print.
There's also a polling agency getting paid for hoardings, and no explanation why.