Sonia offered me CM post in 2014, but decision was changed after Rahul's call: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Himanta thanked Rahul, stating that, as the latter opposed his appointment as the CM, he had been able to "fearlessly work for Sanatan and Assam."

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma Photo | ANI

GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday claimed that then Congress president Sonia Gandhi had asked him to decide on the date of his swearing-in as the CM in 2014, but the party’s decision changed when Rahul Gandhi intervened from the United States.

This was a phase when Sarma, supported by a group of party MLAs, raised the banner of revolt against then Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, serving third straight term in the post.

The Congress had rushed Mallikarjun Kharge to Assam to douse the fire of dissidence.

“When Mallikarjun Kharge came, 58 MLAs backed me for the CM’s post. Several senior leaders remained neutral. Only 12 MLAs said Himanta Biswa Sarma should not become the CM and that the incumbent should continue,” Sarma told media persons.

“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 Ambubachi Mela. Later, we learnt that Rahul Gandhi, who was in America, called up and the decision of the Congress changed,” Sarma further stated.

He claimed that thereafter, whenever Congress leaders criticised him, Kharge would tell them that the MLAs were with him (Sarma). 

“Justice was not delivered. There are many witnesses. But it was due to the blessings of Maa Kamakhya and (saint-reformer) Sankardeva that it did not happen then. I would have carried a blot forever if I had become a Congress CM. I could not have worked for Sanatan and the Assamese,” Sarma said.

He thanked Rahul, stating that, as the latter opposed his appointment as the CM, he had been able to "fearlessly work for Sanatan and Assam."

''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 said.

A year later, he joined the BJP along with MLAs close to him. The BJP wrested power from the Congress in 2016, and he was appointed a minister in the Sarbananda Sonowal ministry. He took over as the CM in 2021 when the BJP retained power.