‘Can’t become Assam Congress chief because of Rahul Gandhi’: Himanta revisits 2014 claim; recalls what Sonia told him | India News

New Delhi: Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed congressional leader Rahul Gandhi He was responsible for blocking his elevation to chief minister when the party came to power in the state.Sarma claimed that in 2014, the then president of parliament Sonia Gandhi He was asked to decide on a date for his swearing-in. According to him, the move later stalled due to Rahul Gandhi’s intervention. “Ms. Sonia Gandhi, as I still call her, asked me to decide the date and I told her that I will take the oath after the Ambubach Mela ceremony at Kamaga Temple in June 2014,” the Press Trust of India news agency quoted Sarma as saying.“I was hurt then but now I believe that everything that happened in life was for the best and God has given me much more than I could have gotten if I had stayed in the Congress party. As the BJP chief minister, I have had the opportunity to serve Assam and Sanatan Dharma wholeheartedly, which would not have been possible had I stayed in the Congress party,” he added.In 2014, the state was led by senior Congress leaders Tarun Gogoihe served as Chief Minister for the third consecutive time. Sarma, considered one of Gogoi’s closest aides at the time, spearheaded a major internal challenge, citing dissatisfaction with Gogoi’s leadership and calling for generational change within the party. In that event, he claimed to have the support of a majority of members of Congress.The Congress high command chose to continue supporting Gogoi, after which Sarma resigned from the state cabinet in July 2014. He quit the Congress completely in 2015 and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.Assam will go to polls in March-April for its 126 parliamentary seats, with the Congress likely to contest as part of a wider opposition alliance.Currently, the BJP has 64 MLAs in the Assembly, while its allies – AGP, UPPL and BPF – have 9, 7 and 3 seats respectively. In the opposition, the Congress has 26 members, AIUDF 15, CPI(M) 1 and one independent legislator.