A 26-second video shared by Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Chief Minister of Assam, triggered widespread discussion on social media after several users alleged that the visuals had been created using Artificial Intelligence. The clip, posted on the platform X, showed a long stretch of a smooth, well-paved highway that appeared visually similar to a professional Formula 1 racing circuit.
The post included a caption that displayed a red cross mark next to the words “F1 Track” and a green tick beside “Roads of Assam,” implying that the state’s road infrastructure matched world-class standards. As the video gained momentum online and was widely shared throughout the day, numerous users began questioning whether the footage was genuine. Critics argued that the lighting, surface texture, and overall appearance of the road seemed digitally enhanced or artificially generated.
Responding to the allegations, Sarma firmly denied that the visuals were fabricated. He maintained that the footage represented real infrastructure development within Assam. In a follow-up post, he shared another video and used a caption that again contrasted “Artificial Intelligence” marked with a red cross and “Assam Infrastructure” marked with a green tick, reinforcing his stance that the earlier clip was authentic.
The second video showed a convoy of vehicles moving along a roadway lined with large crowds of people waving BJP flags, suggesting the footage was captured during a political event. Despite this clarification, scepticism persisted among sections of social media users.
Some users countered the chief minister’s claims by sharing photographs of damaged and pothole-ridden roads, asserting that those images more accurately reflected the condition of highways in the state. One user also circulated a newspaper report carrying the headline that Assam ranked third among Indian states with the highest number of damaged highways, further intensifying the debate.
Criticism also came from political opponents. Congress spokesperson Reetam Singh sharply attacked the chief minister, accusing him of embarrassing himself and attempting to defend a misleading claim. Singh alleged that Sarma had used an unrelated video and presented it as evidence of development, assuming the public would accept it without scrutiny.
In his remarks, Singh urged the chief minister to personally inspect National Highway stretches around the Jorhat Lok Sabha constituency to assess the actual state of infrastructure. He pointed to issues such as inadequate street lighting and poorly maintained guard rails as indicators of ground reality. Singh further stated that the state required proactive governance rather than what he described as performative digital showcases.
Senior leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party in Assam strongly defended the chief minister and dismissed the allegations. State Water Resources Minister Pijush Hazarika criticised detractors, claiming that individuals with what he described as a “negative IQ level” were unable to accept the pace of infrastructure progress in the state. He referenced opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi and Gaurav Gogoi while making his remarks.
Hazarika also posted an additional video showing a large crowd gathered along a roadway during the BJP’s Jana Ashirwad Yatra led by Sarma. He asserted that this footage had been recorded on the same road and on the same day as the chief minister’s original video, challenging critics to label this clip as AI-generated as well.
Another BJP leader, Assam’s Cultural Affairs Minister Bimal Borah, joined the defence by sharing a nighttime video of a highway stretch. He identified the location as the Silapathar-to-Jonai section of a national highway and used the clip to argue that visible infrastructure improvements were genuine. In a pointed remark aimed at critics, he suggested that even clear real-world visuals were being dismissed as artificial by political opponents.
