Sonia Gandhi offered me CM chair in 2014, but Rahul's calls wrecked it: Himanta

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on February 17 claimed that former Congress president Sonia Gandhi had once asked him to decide the date of his swearing-in as chief minister in 2014, when 58 party MLAs were backing his candidature.

Speaking to reporters after a cabinet meeting at the state legislative assembly, Sarma said the plan did not materialise after intervention from Rahul Gandhi, who was abroad at the time.

“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 said.

According to him, the situation changed after Rahul Gandhi “made phone calls” to party leaders. He did not elaborate on the contents of those conversations but suggested that they altered the course of events within the state unit.

The Congress in Assam had witnessed internal dissent following the 2011 Assembly elections, with a section of legislators supporting Sarma as chief minister in place of the then incumbent Tarun Gogoi. The leadership question remained unresolved, and Sarma eventually quit the party in 2015 to join the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Reflecting on the episode, Sarma said, “I was hurt then, but now I believe that whatever happens in one’s life is for the best and God has given me much more than what I would have got, had I remained in the Congress.”

He added that becoming chief minister under the BJP had given him opportunities he believed would not have been possible otherwise. “As the BJP CM, I got a chance to serve both Assam and Sanatan dharma wholeheartedly, which would not have been possible had I been in the Congress,” he said.

Sarma, who has been serving as chief minister since 2021, said he may disclose further details about the developments of that period if he ever writes a book.