Rahul vetoed Sonia Gandhi's offer to make me CM in 2014: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Himanta Biswa Sarma

• Sarma claims Rahul Gandhi blocked his 2014 Congress CM bid
• Sonia Gandhi initially offered Sarma the Assam CM post
• Sarma joined BJP in 2015, later became Assam chief minister

Did our AI summary help?

Leaving no opportunity to highlight how unfairly he was treated in the Congress, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi vetoed his mother Sonia Gandhi’s offer to make him the chief minister in 2014.

Speaking to journalist after a state cabinet meeting, Sarma recalling the circumstances that led him to leave Congress said Sonina Gandhi was the Congress president when he rebelled against the then Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and claimed the support of 58 party MLAs. The Congress had rushed current party president Mallikarjun Kharge to Assam to quell the dissidence.

“When Kharge came, 58 MLAs backed me for the Chief Minister’s post, while some senior leaders remained neutral. Only 12 MLAs said that I should not become the CM and that the incumbent (Tarun Gogoi) should continue,” the CM said.

“Sonia Gandhi called me to her residence and asked me to decide on the date of my swearing-in. I had told Madam that I would take the oath the day after [the June-end] Ambubachi Mela. Later, we came to know that Rahul Gandhi, who was in the USA., called up and Congress changed its decision,” Assam CM Sarma said.

The Assam CM claimed that Kharge kept reminding the party leadership that he enjoyed the support of most of the Congress MLAs. “Justice was not delivered, but I feel blessed that it did not happen then. I would have carried a blot forever had I become a Congress CM. I could not have worked for the Sanatani and the Assamese,” he said.

In 2015, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with MLAs close to him. The BJP ended the 15-year rule of the Congress in Assam in 2016, and Sarma became the most powerful Minister in the government headed by his predecessor Sarbananda Sonowal.

He replaced Sonowal as the chief minister after the BJP retained power in 2021. The party eyes a third straight term after the Assembly election expected by April.

Looking back at his initial association with the BJP, Sarma attributed the opportunity of working “fearlessly for Sanatan and Assam” to Mr. Gandhi’s opposition to his appointment as the Chief Minister. “I was kicked and thrown into the Ganga. God guided me to the right path, helping me get over my sadness,” CM observed.