Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday shared Ghulam Nabi Azad's interview where the former J&K chief minister spoke about how he intervened when Himanta Biswa Sarma was about to exit the party. Ghulam Nabi Azad's attempts remained unsuccessful, but he (Himanta) continued in the party for another 12 months, he tweeted. "The story of those 12 months is quite fascinating. I ultimately left the Congress party in August 2015," Himanta tweeted. Interview | I won’t consider myself an Oppn leader, I will stay neutral: Ghulam Nabi Azad
In the interview with Mojo, Ghulam Nabi Azad said he was called to step in when Himanta declared a rebellion with the support of 40-45 MLAs. "I was told to manage the situation as Himanta was close to me. And also the then governor JB Patnaik was close to him. I did both the works faithfully," Ghulam said in the interview.
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"I called up Himanta and asked him to come to Delhi with all his supporters in different planes. The then-chief minister was also told to do the same. We took stock of the situation and Himanta had evidently more support. In the process, I briefed Mrs Gandhi about all the developments but she did not tell us to consult with Rahul Gandhi," Ghulam Nabi Azad said.
{{/usCountry}}"I called up Himanta and asked him to come to Delhi with all his supporters in different planes. The then-chief minister was also told to do the same. We took stock of the situation and Himanta had evidently more support. In the process, I briefed Mrs Gandhi about all the developments but she did not tell us to consult with Rahul Gandhi," Ghulam Nabi Azad said.
{{/usCountry}}"Before we were going to Assam, I got a call from Rahul Gandhi and he asked me whether we were going to Assam to change the CM. He said we can't go and called us. At that time, he was not the party president," Ghulam Nabi Azad said in the interview.
"As I visited Rahul Gandhi, I saw he was having tea with Tarun Gogoi (then Assam CM) and his son Gaurav Gogoi. Rahul Gandhi told me that he came to know that we were irritating Tarun Gogoi. I told him that I was given this task," Azad said.
“I told him that Himanta will be leaving the party. He said jaane do RSS mein. Every time a Congress leader talked of leaving, it was Rahul Gandhi's taqiya kalam to say -- jaane do. He did not even say BJP, he used to say RSS.” Ghulam Nabi Azad said.
Ghulam Nabi Azad criticised the Congress and Rahul Gandhi once again ahead of the release of his memoir 'Azaad'. In several interviews given before the book launch, Azad praised PM Modi's leadership and drew flak from the Congress.