Rahul Gandhi approached Guwahati to pay his last respects to the late veteran leader of Congress, Tarun Gogoi.
Highlight
- Assam’s former chief minister, Tarun Gogoi, died on Monday at the age of 86.
- “He was my guru, he explained to me what Assam is,” Rahul Gandhi said.
- Gandhi arrived in Guwahati on Wednesday afternoon on a special flight.
Guwahati:
He was my guru, my teacher, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said after paying a flowery tribute to former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who passed away at the age of 86 due to multiple organ failure on Monday.
“He was like my guru, my teacher. He explained to me like no one what Assam is about. Gaurav is his son, but he also treated me like his own son. When I used to talk to him, I used to feel like I’m not talking to an individual but with the whole state. With him, we have also lost Ahmed Patel ji. They were the pillars of the party (of Congress) and it is a very sad day for us, “said Rahul Gandhi. reporters in Guwahati.
On Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi rushed to Guwahati for a two-hour visit before heading to Delhi. Upon arrival at around 9.35am, he went directly to Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra, where Mr. Gogoi’s body has been kept for the people to pay their last respects.
He also visited Mr. Gogoi’s family, including his wife Dolly and son Gaurav Gogoi, at their official residence in Guwahati. Gaurav Gogoi is a member of the Lok Sabha parliament of Assam.
Shri @RahulGandhi meets with Smt. Dolly Gogoi and Shri @GauravGogoiAsm in Guwahati. pic.twitter.com/uo5j1mVbZp
– Congress (@INCIndia) November 25, 2020
“His disappearance was a personal loss for me. Gogoi ji was not just a leader of Assam, he was a national leader … a formidable chief minister. He inspired us by uniting the people of Assam and bringing peace to the state … When I first came to Assam, I was young and roaming freely because I know everything. Then I sat down with Gogoi ji and he taught me humility in five minutes … He was the guru who taught his students the art of politics well. Then it will not be difficult for us to fight in Assam, “Gandhi added.
Wednesday was the second time that Gandhi referred to Tarun Gogoi as a teacher after his death on Monday.
Shri Tarun Gogoi was a true leader of Congress. He dedicated his life to uniting all the people and communities of Assam.
For me, he was a great and wise teacher. He loved and respected him deeply.
I will miss it. My love and condolences to Gaurav and the family. pic.twitter.com/jTMfSyAJ6J
– Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 23, 2020
Former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who had been fighting for his life with post-Covid complications in a hospital for weeks, died on November 23. A three-day state duel was announced in his honor of Gogoi while saluting the leaders of the country’s political parties.
In his long political career in Congress, spanning four decades, he saw the party go through many tectonic shifts, upheaval, and three generations of the Gandhi family: Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi.
Mr. Gogoi was a trained lawyer and was personally chosen by Indira Gandhi to head the Youth Congress in 1971. He became a close confidant of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and was a Union Minister twice between 1991 and 1995. He also He was a member of the fifth, sixth, seventh, tenth, twelfth, and thirteenth Lok Sabha.
When Ms. Gandhi’s son, Rajiv Gandhi, took office as Prime Minister of India, the same day she was assassinated, Mr. Gogoi was by her side and remained a close confidant. He held the fort as Union minister in 1991 when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated and returned to Assam politics only by order of the party to help him march to victory in 2001.
With Gogoi’s death ahead of the 2021 Assam Assembly elections, members of Congress hope that his son, Gaurav Gogoi, who is believed to share cordial relations with Rahul Gandhi, will take center stage in state polls.
In the days before he tested positive for COVID-19, Tarun Gogoi is said to have been in talks to form a Grand Alliance of all opposition parties in Assam.
Gogoi will be cremated at the Nabagraha crematorium in Guwahati on Thursday afternoon instead of his hometown, Titabor.
“According to Mr. Gogoi’s wish, his body will be brought to a temple, a mosque and a church before the last rites,” Congress’s head of state Ripun Bora had previously said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated channel.)
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