The CROWN Fits

It took him 30 years to turn into reality what he had promised his then would-be-wife. Himanta Biswa Sarma was 22 and Riniki Bhuyan 17 when they first met. She asked him what she should tell her mother about what he wanted to do in future. 바카라�Tell her I바카라�ll be the chief minister one day.바카라�

Sarma, now 52, was sworn in as the 15th chief minister of Assam on May 10, as Riniki watched her husband바카라�s dogged determination finally pay off. 바카라�It was politics, politics, politics all the way and yet, as I watched him take oath, I found it hard to believe,바카라� Riniki said.

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Himanta found what would be his calling early on, with the All Assam Students바카라� Union (AASU), delivering his first speech in 1979 when he was 13. He moved on to the big league after joining Guwahati바카라�s Cotton College, one of premiere institutions in Northeast. He was general secretary of the Cotton College Union Society for two successive terms, in 1988-89 and 1989-90 and once again in 1991-92, a record that still stands in his name.

Sarma came to the notice of then Congress chief minister Hiteswar Saikia, when he joined the advisory committee for students and youth welfare as member secretary. The committee was chaired by Saikia. Although Sarma had found his mentor, the relationship did not last long as Saikia passed away during assembly elections in 1996, which Sarma contested from Jalukbari for the first time. He lost to another mentor of his AASU days, Bhrigu Kumar Phukan of AGP. He would defeat Phukan, who had by then crossed over to the Nationalist Congress Party, in 2001. Jalukbari has since become synonymous with Sarma.

바카라�He has always been ambitious, aggressive and dynamic,바카라� remembers Dr Ardhendu Kumar Dey, a former Congress minister who joined BJP ahead of the last elections. Sarma bec­ame a junior minister for the first time in the Tarun Gogoi government in 2002, as deputy to Dey in the agriculture department. 바카라�There could be many ambitious people, but it was his aggressiveness and dynamism, that has made Himanta what he is today. If he sets his mind on something, he will make sure he completes the task,바카라� Dey told Outlook. He was also an efficient lawyer. 바카라�He had handled a couple of my cases, and I saw how tactfully he went about his work.바카라� A post-graduate in political science, Sarma also graduated in law and later obtained PhD from Gauhati University.

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That he has a sharp mind and could have flourished in law if he had wished was also borne out by then advocate general of Assam, late Amrit Kumar Phookan. Sarma was his understudy. 바카라�Once, I had asked him to abridge some matter and confine it to an A4 size page. The original ran into 3-4 pages. I had hardly given him any time as I needed the paper in court the following day. He delivered bef­ore time. I wonder if even I could have done it the way he did,바카라� Phookan had told this correspondent earlier, at a time when Sarma바카라�s name was getting slowly but steadily ent­renched in the public consciousness. Phookan passed away in 2015.

Congress retained power in 2006 and within no time, Sarma became virtually the number two in the ministry, chief minister Tarun Gogoi바카라�s trusted lieutenant. The party once again swept to power in 2011 making it three in a row.

바카라�He had come to my house before the 2011 elections and I had told him he would be the next chief minister,바카라� Dey remembered. But that was not to be, and as time passed Sarma started showing signs of frustration.

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In 2014, Sarma led a dissident faction against Gogoi. It had become clear to him by then that he did not stand a chance to lead the party in the 2016 elections, as neither did Gogoi show any signs of giving up the reins, nor was Delhi in his favour. While Sonia Gandhi reportedly supported him after being briefed by Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi shot down the idea. What bec­ame a matter of concern for him further was Gogoi바카라�s son Gaurav, now a Lok Sabha member, who joined the party in 2012. He was now certain Gaurav would get precedence over him. So finally, in July 2014, he resigned from the ministry. Next year, in August, he joined BJP. The party, which was desperately trying to find a foothold in the Northeast via Assam, lapped him up.

Campaigning for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Sarma had dubbed Narendra Modi a 바카라�terrorist바카라�. He had also retorted to Modi바카라�s claim that in Gujarat, water pipes were so huge even a Maruti hatchback could drive through it, saying 바카라�blood of Muslims바카라� flowed through those pipes 바카라� a clear reference to the 2002 Gujarat riots.

바카라�You said that in Gujarat, a Maruti car can drive through a water pipe바카라� In Gujarat the blood of Muslims flows through these pipes바카라� Pray to Allah to make Bhupen Bora the winner in Tezpur바카라� So this type of killer could never be the PM of India. Pray for it during namaaz too,바카라� Sarma reportedly said at a rally.

After joining BJP, Sarma quickly issued a clarification 바카라� what he had said was the Congress party바카라�s views. It was soon forgotten. Adapting seamlessly to new reality is the hallmark of an Indian politician.

When he returned to Guwahati after joining BJP in Delhi, he was welcomed with a cavalcade that stretched for a couple of kilometers. At the party office, after his felicitation, it was time for the 바카라�Bharat Mata ki Jai바카라� chant. BJP workers raised both their hands. Not Sarma, though. He raised one and then, with a sheepish smile, said he would soon get used to it.

There was no further slip-up, as Sarma grabbed the opportunity with both hands. His immediate goal was to defeat Congress in the 2016 elections. This was secured with ease. Henceforth, there was no stopping him. Soon, he played midwife to the North East Democratic Alliance, a coalition of regional parties. Arunachal Pradesh, which had a Congress government, went to the BJP overnight, the party coming to power for the first time in the state without having to fight an election. In Manipur, the Congress emerged the single-largest party, but saw the BJP stake claim and form government 바카라� again a first for the party in the state. Tripura saw red turn saffron 바카라� yet another first. Everywhere he went, Sarma left his indelible print, becoming indispensable for BJP in the Northeast.

The 2021 elections came around, but Sarma had already cried off from contesting. The BJP central leadership called him to Delhi and convinced him to change his decision. As soon as he did, whispers of him having done a deal to be the next chief minister, were BJP to ret­ain power, began to be heard.

The BJP won again with old ally Asom Gana Parishad and the nascent United People바카라�s Party (Liberal). The latter had replaced Bodoland People바카라�s Front in the NDA. During distribution of tickets, Sarma had strategically ensured his men got preference. The BJP did not name a chief ministerial candidate ahead of the polls, even though the Sarbananda Sonowal-led government was perceived to have done well.

The central leadership was now in a dil­emma 바카라� who should be made the chief minister? Sonowal could not be wished away, and Sarma could be ign­ored at the party바카라�s own peril. By now, they knew Sarma did not carry the burden of any ideology, and could shed it like a duck shakes off water, even though he had mastered the art of raising both hands while chanting 바카라�Bharat Mata ki Jai바카라�. For BJP, Assam as well as several other states in the North East could be at stake. When the matter was referred to the BJP legislature party, none other than Sonowal proposed his name as the leader. Sarma, it is being said, had around 40 of the party바카라�s 60 MLAs ready to follow him.

Yet, as Riniki would say, Sarma still app­eared a little dazed. 바카라�I did not realise I바카라�d be entrusted with such a huge res­ponsibility,바카라� he told her when he finally returned to their room at around 5.30 am 바카라� the morning after he was elected as legislative party leader, hours before he would be sworn in.

It was a new dawn.