Tarun Gogoi, a three-time CM of Assam and a veteran of Congress, was 84 years old.
Former Assam Prime Minister Tarun Gogoi, who had been receiving treatment at Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) for post-Covid complications, passed away on Monday, state health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma confirmed. The veteran of Congress was 84 years old.
“He left this world at 5.34pm,” Sarma said outside the GMCH. As planned so far, the body would be kept at Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakhetra, a cultural institution in Guwahati, on Tuesday for people to see it for the last time.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal flew back to Guwahati from Dibrugarh after canceling his official programs scheduled to be with Gogoi’s family. “He has always been a father figure to me. I join millions in praying for his recovery, ”Sonowal tweeted.
Gogoi was diagnosed with Covid in late August and was given plasma therapy when his condition worsened. After testing negative for Covid, Gogoi was battling post-Covid complications. He has been on noninvasive ventilation since November 2, but on Saturday he underwent invasive ventilation.
Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh called Gogoi’s son and MP Gaurav Gogoi and inquired about the former CM’s health. The leader of Congress, Rahul Gandhi, also called Gaurav. High-ranking Assamian ministers and senior political leaders who crossed party lines visited Gogoi’s family in hospital throughout the day.
In the days before he was diagnosed with Covid, Gogoi was at the forefront of Congress’s initiative to form a ‘Grand Alliance’, made up of all opposition parties for the 2021 assembly elections. Gogoi was elected prime minister from Assam in 2001 after leading Congress to victory in state elections. Since then, he led the party to a record three consecutive state election victories as CM.
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Former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi. (Express photo by RK Dayal)
Born on April 1, 1936, Gogoi became a political leader of national stature after being elected deputy secretary of the All India Congressional Committee (AICC) in 1976 under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Since then, Gogoi has served six terms as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lok Sabha. He represented Jorhat for the first time in 1971–85. Later, Gogoi was elected from Kaliabor (1991–96 / 1998–2002).[citation needed] The Kaliabor seat is currently held by his son Gaurav Gogoi.
He also served as Secretary General of the AICC (1985-1990) under Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and later served in the Cabinet of the Union of India under Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao as Minister of State of the Union in the departments of Food and Food Processing Industry (1991–96).
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