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NEW DELHI: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was responsible for blocking his elevation to the chief minister’s post when the party was in power in the state.Sarma claimed that in 2014, then Congress president Sonia Gandhi had asked him to decide the date for his swearing-in. According to him, the move was later stalled due to Rahul Gandhi’s intervention. “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),” news agency PTI quoted Sarma as saying.”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. 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 added.In 2014, the state was led by senior Congress leader Tarun Gogoi, who was serving his third straight term as chief minister. Sarma, then seen as one of Gogoi’s closest associates, spearheaded a major internal challenge, citing dissatisfaction with Gogoi’s leadership and calling for generational change within the party. He had claimed the support of a majority of Congress MLAs during that episode.The Congress high command chose to stick with Gogoi, after which Sarma resigned from the state cabinet in July 2014. He quit the Congress altogether in 2015 and joined the BJP.Assam is set to go to the polls for its 126 assembly seats in March–April, with the Congress likely to contest as part of a broader opposition alliance.At present, the BJP has 64 MLAs in the assembly, while its allies — AGP, UPPL and BPF — hold nine, seven and three seats respectively. In the opposition ranks, Congress has 26 members, AIUDF 15 and CPI(M) one, along with one Independent legislator.
