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On Azad's revelation about Rahul-Himanta episode, Cong MP says ‘pure fiction’
Ghulam Nabi Azad's tirade against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has triggered a political slugfest.
Gloves are off as former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad made sensational claims in his autobiography offering captivating accounts of his relationship with the members of the Gandhi family. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi has termed Azad's claim about a meeting with Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi “pure fiction and imagination” and said the “book should be publicised as such.”
In his autobiography Azaad, published by Rupa, Azad said that Sonia Gandhi wanted him to oversee the change of guard in Assam after then Congress leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, with the majority of MLAs behind him, revolted against Tarun Gogoi. Azad said Sonia Gandhi asked him to visit Assam to "oversee the formal election of Himanta as the new leader" but Rahul Gandhi requested him to cancel the visit and, instead, meet him the next morning.
“When we arrived at Rahul’s residence… we saw Tarun Gogoi and his son, Gaurav Gogoi, sitting with him. Rahul told us bluntly that there would be no change in leadership. We pointed out to him that Himanta had the majority of MLAs and would rebel and quit the party. ‘Let him go,’ Rahul said. The meeting was over.”
Reacting to Azad's claim, Gaurav Gogoi said, “It has come to my notice through media reports that Ghulam Nabi Azad ji has made certain references to me and my late father regarding a meeting in Delhi. The story is pure fiction and imagination and the book should be publicised as such.”
Azad, a former Congress stalwart, has also claimed in his new book that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had come to Delhi for talks with the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi, to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir in 2002, which was quickly dismissed by the PDP.
“I think what Azad said does not add up to a very credible presentation of facts. Azad is reported to claim that he had 42 MLAs with him. Then why didn't he straight away go and stake the claim (to government formation),” PDP leader Nayeem Akhtar told PTI.
"It's a narrative that Azad has presented. He has been the longest player at the national level, he has been quite an important player in national politics but our limited concern is about what has been reported in the press as part of this book related to the 2002 formation of the PDP-Congress ministry in the state.
“How could a party with 16 members at number 3 in the table of seats blackmail Sonia Gandhi form a government with the chief minister (coming) from that party of 16?” he asked.
