Sonia Gandhi asked me to decide date of my swearing-in as Assam Congress CM in 2014: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Guwahati: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday claimed that the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi had asked him to decide his swearing-in date, however, Rahul Gandhi sabotaged it and ensured that Tarun Gogoi remained the chief minister in 2014.

During the leadership tussle in Assam Congress in 2014, around 58 party MLAs had supported Sarma. He said, “Things changed after Rahul Gandhi, who was then in the United States, made phone calls to Congress leaders.”

The Congress, which won the assembly polls in 2011, started witnessing dissidence activities in 2012. Sarma left the Congress and joined the BJP in 2015.


"Madam (Sonia Gandhi), whom I still refer to as such, had asked me to decide on the date and I had told her that I would take oath after the Ambubachi Mela at Kamakhya Temple in June (2014)," Sarma recalled, adding "I was hurt, but now I believe that whatever happens in one's life is for the best. As BJP CM, I got a chance to serve both Assam and the Sanatan dharma wholeheartedly, which would not have been possible had I been in Congress."

He said that he would elaborate on these developments if he ever wrote a book.