Told Himanta could go, Rahul said let him: Azad memoir

“The meeting was over. I am not sure if Rahul said this to assert himself or because he was ignorant that his decision would have far-reaching consequences, not only in the state of Assam but the entire Northeast,” he writes.

Sarma, who eventually joined BJP and is now the chief minister of Assam, took with him 10 MLAs when he quit the Congress in September 2015 over differences with the party’s state leadership.

A former Congress loyalist who quit in August 2022 and launched his own party, the Democratic Progressive Azad Party, he writes that “despite understanding the disastrous consequences that lay ahead”, Sonia Gandhi, then the party president, also did not do anything about Sarma’s eventual departure and simply asked him to tell Sarma to “not rock the boat”.

Congress’ Rahul Gandhi with Sonia Gandhi and Ghulam Nabi Azad during Jan Aakrosh rally at Ramlila maidan in Delhi on 29 April, 2018. (Express file)

“After our interaction with Rahul, I met Sonia ji and apprised her of the new twist in the tale. Despite understanding the disastrous consequences that lay ahead, it is rather unfortunate that she did not assert herself as the party president. Instead, she asked me to request Himanta to not rock the boat,’” he writes.

According to Azad, Rahul “mismanaged” Sarma episode.

From devising a strategy with Indira Gandhi to bring Rajiv Gandhi into politics and convincing Sonia to become the party chief, and his mediation efforts in the tussle between Rahul and Sarma, Azad, in the book, explores the challenges of leadership and the consequences of daring to bring fresh thinking into the political landscape, the publishers Rupa said in a statement.