Rahul vs Himanta: I will send you to jail; you are out on bail

India Today

2 days ago

Few rivalries in Indian politics have flipped so dramatically, or so publicly, as the one between Rahul Gandhi and Himanta Biswa Sarma. A decade ago, Rahul, then Congress vice-president and heir to the Nehru-Gandhi legacy, hardly acknowledged Sarma despite his status as the party's most influential leader in Assam.In nearly every visit to Assam over the past few years, Rahul, now leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has taken a pointed aim at Sarma, the state's chief minister and a rising national figure in the BJP. On July 16, at a rally at Chaygaon, Assam, Rahul hardly bothered to conceal that his campaign in Assam revolves around unseating one man.advertisement'Your chief minister thinks of himself as the king of Assam,' he thundered, accusing Sarma of looting public resources and selling Assam's land to corporate cronies. Rahul then issued a dramatic promise to the crowd: 'One day the lions of Congress will catch him Your CM will be in jail after some time, and neither [Narendra] Modi nor Amit Shah will be able to save him.'Sarma, never the one to let a punch go unanswered, hit back on X: 'Rahul Gandhi has come all the way just to issue a threat, conveniently forgetting that he himself was out on bail in multiple criminal cases.'
Then came the backhand compliment: 'He mentioned my name repeatedly in all his meetings. I must thank him. He has elevated my stature far beyond what I could've achieved by staying in the Congress.' It was a classic Sarma flourish—turning Rahul's attacks into validation of his own clout.A decade ago, Sarma was a sidelined Congress leader, denied chief ministership despite commanding the support of 54 of 78 Congress MLAs in Assam. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, an observer then, recorded the numbers and Sonia Gandhi, according to multiple accounts, conceded that 'Sarma had a clear majority and should be the new CM'.But Rahul intervened saying that there would be no change in leadership. When it was pointed out that Sarma might exit the party, Rahul said, 'Let him go'. In an ironical twist, the same Kharge, now Congress president, stands beside Rahul on the same stage, urging Sarma to start 'renovating prisons' for his future lodgings.In 2015, Sarma joined the BJP. He did not just switch parties, he systematically dismantled the Congress edifice he had helped build over two decades. His intimate knowledge of the party's workings, combined with his extensive network across the Northeast, made him the BJP's most potent weapon in a region where the saffron party had historically struggled.The recent exchanges between Rahul and Sarma represent far more than routine political mudslinging. It marks the culmination of a personal conflict that has fundamentally altered the political geography of the Northeast, a transformation that began with a plate of biscuits and a dog named Pidi.advertisementIn one now-famous anecdote recounted by Sarma, Rahul once summoned Assam's Congress leaders to discuss urgent state matters, only to spend the meeting playing with his pet dog, Pidi, and feeding it biscuits while the politicians waited to be heard. Sarma often recalls that encounter in public, describing Rahul's attitude as a 'servant-master relationship' wherein courtiers are expected to quietly endure royal whims.Sarma's revelation about another meeting where Rahul responded to every issue with 'So What?' more than 50 times in 20 minutes paints a picture of a relationship defined by contempt on one side and growing resentment on the other.The personal animus between Rahul and his one-time junior has only grown with time, and often in public view. Once freed from the Congress's decorous restraint, Sarma turned into one of Rahul's most unrelenting critics, frequently launching barbed attacks on the Gandhi scion. When Rahul posted about his dog on social media in 2017, Sarma couldn't resist responding: 'Sir @OfficeOfRG, who knows him better than me. Still remember you busy feeding biscuits 2 him while we wanted to discuss urgent Assam's issues.'Over time, Sarma's taunts grew more personal, less restrained and even crude. He has mocked Rahul's credentials, intelligence and even his lineage. In early 2022, at a rally in Uttarakhand, responding to Rahul's insistence on proof for the Indian Army's surgical strike inside Pakistan in 2016, Sarma sneered, 'Did we ever ask you for proof of whether you are Rajiv Gandhi's son or not? What right do you have to demand proof from my Army?'advertisementFor years after Sarma's departure, Rahul chose not to engage publicly with his former lieutenant, avoiding any descent into political mudslinging. He often dismissed Sarma as a turncoat driven by power, someone who had betrayed his party for office. Rahul has even suggested he was 'perfectly okay' with people like Sarma leaving the Congress, arguing that 'Sarma represents a corrupt of politics that is not Congress' politics'. Citing Sarma's penchant for communally charged statements, Rahul implied that losing such individuals was addition by subtraction for the Congress's values.Even Sarma framed his departure in ideological terms. He portrays Rahul as the epitome of all that was wrong with the Congress: entitlement, indifference and incompetence. His reminiscences of Rahul's dog and the biscuit and jibes about a 'master-servant' culture are meant to underscore that the Congress under Rahul was a feudal family firm where merit had no place.advertisementBy continually poking at Rahul, Sarma keeps alive the narrative that he is everything Rahul is not: grounded, hardworking, aggressive in pursuing his state's interests and unafraid to take the fight to much bigger opponents.BJP supporters cheer Sarma's caustic put-downs of Rahul, the dynasty's prince, for it reinforces their belief that the once unchallenged Gandhis can be humbled by a self-made regional leader. Sarma's very presence in the BJP is a talking point to woo other Congress leaders: it says, join us and you too can eclipse the Gandhis.This simmering feud has lately entered a new phase, one that sees Rahul and Sarma face off almost as equals. Rahul may be a national figure and scion of India's most famous political family while Sarma is 'only' a chief minister of a far-flung state. But in their mutual crosshairs, they appear to recognise in each other a prime political antagonist. The indifferent boss and the disgruntled underling have transformed into combative rivals each determined to best the other.In January 2024, during the Assam leg of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Rahul called Sarma 'the most corrupt chief minister in India' and alleged that 'every member of his family, children, wife, and he himself, is involved in corruption'. Sarma hit back, calling the remark 'below the belt' and denouncing the dragnet attack on his children—both students with no political role—as deeply inappropriate. With characteristic bite, he added: 'Rahul Gandhi once feared me. Now he fears my son.'advertisementAnd now, the July 16 confrontation represents a remarkable evolution in this relationship. No longer is this a story of an indifferent boss and disgruntled subordinate. Rahul positions the campaign against Sarma as something of a moral crusade, to save Assam from a 'raja' (king) who has betrayed the public trust and will eventually face justice at the hands of the people. This shows that the Congress leader has finally recognised his former party junior as a formidable opponent worthy of sustained attack.From a barely noticed snub in a drawing room to thunderous threats from rally stages, the journey of this rivalry is a story of pride and power, of a relationship soured and then set ablaze. And as the barbs about 'jail' and 'bail' fly, one thing is certain: neither man is likely to back down.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- EndsMust Watch