Guwahati, July 16: Call it coincidence or calculated political messaging, but Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma took to social media just after the arrival of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge and General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, for a day-long visit aimed at reviving the Congress Party ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
Posting on X, Sarma wrote: "Take it in writing, Himanta Biswa Sarma will definitely be sent to jail” — these were the exact words spoken by the Leader of the Opposition, Shri Rahul Gandhi, during his closed-door meeting with the Congress Political Affairs Committee in Assam. He came all the way to Assam just to say this, conveniently forgetting that he himself is out on bail in multiple criminal cases registered across the country."
Sarma concluded his post with a dig: "My best wishes to you, Rahul ji. Enjoy the hospitality of Assam for the rest of the day."
"Shri Rahul Gandhi visited Assam today solely to criticise me. He mentioned my name repeatedly in all his meetings. I must say, I am grateful—because today, he has elevated my political stature to a level I might never have reached had I remained in the Congress party. It is indeed a day of great satisfaction. After all, if Rahul Gandhi has chosen to criticise me, it is a clear sign that I must be doing something right for the people of Assam.", Sarma continued in another X post.
Later that day, Rahul Gandhi’s remarks during a public meeting in Chaygaon closely mirrored Sarma’s social media claims.
“I don’t speak without thinking. Whatever I say, it happens. Mark my words — very soon, you will see your Chief Minister being arrested. And no power, not even PM Modi or Amit Shah, can prevent it,” Gandhi declared to a roaring crowd in Bongaon.
He asserted that it wouldn’t be the Congress Party but the people of Assam who would bring Sarma to justice.
“He will be arrested by the youth of Assam, by its farmers, labourers, and people from every religion and community — because they know he is corrupt,” Gandhi said.
Targeting the eviction drives across the state, Gandhi accused the Chief Minister of using “development” as a guise for land grabbing.
“He grabs land under the pretext of solar power projects or resorts. He robs the state's land 24/7 — and everyone knows it,” he alleged.
He further linked Assam’s issues to broader national concerns: “The way land is handed over to Adani, Ambani, and Ramdev is the same across India. Small business owners, farmers, and labourers are being crushed. Just five or six billionaires are gaining control of the country’s land, water, and forests. But this country doesn’t belong to them — it belongs to the people,” Gandhi concluded.
Sarma's social media post stirred a political storm, especially since he claimed access to a closed-door Congress strategy meeting held at a Guwahati hotel.
Notably, this isn’t the first time Sarma has claimed to have knowledge of internal opposition deliberations, raising fresh questions around political surveillance, strategy, and timing.
