Congress president election: Workers humiliated by Rahul Gandhi's nomination, says Himanta Sarma

Guwahati: Senior BJP leader and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday claimed that ordinary Congress workers are feeling humiliated and sad with party vice-president Rahul Gandhi filing nomination papers for the post of party president. Sarma, one of the most prominent leaders of the Congress in Assam before joining the saffron party, also said that despite belonging to the 21st century, Gandhi missed a historical opportunity to free the Congress from dynastic and feudal politics. [caption id=“attachment_4001207” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. PTI[/caption] “By getting ready to file nomination for Congress President in what’s a terribly opaque process @OfficeOfRG has humiliated ordinary workers. #ShameYouDynast,” Sarma, also the state finance minister, said in his twitter handle. The 47-year-old Gandhi scion is likely to emerge as the lone candidate in the fray, clearing the decks for his elevation to the party’s top post, succeeding his mother, who has held the post for 19 years in a row. “Those who dedicated their sweat & blood for @INCIndia are today silently sobbing on such treacherous lack of transparency in the party. God bless @OfficeOfRG,” said another tweet of Sarma. The Congress, however, hit back saying Sarma does not know the history of the party. In the long history of the party, only a few Congress presidents were from the Gandhi family, senior Congress leader Pradyut Bordoloi said. On Gandhi’s nomination, he said the process started about eight months back and it adhered to all democratic norms.