NEW DELHI, Nov 23: The former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi passed away on Monday after his health condition deteriorated. He was 84.
Gogoi was admitted to Gauhati Medical College Hospital in Guwahati. He had tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on August 25 and had spent two months in hospital.
Assam’s longest serving chief minister was again rushed to hospital due to post-Covid complications. Gogoi was admitted on November 2 after he complained of breathlessness where he passed away on Monday. His death was announced by the state Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma
The prime minister Naredndra Modi condoled his demise of the longest serving chief minister of Assam. Taking to Twitter, Modi recalled Gogoi as a “popular leader and a veteran administrator, who had years of political experience in Assam as well as the Centre.”
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also paid tribute to Gogoi, remembering him as a “true Congress leader” who “devoted his life to bringing all the people and communities of Assam together.”
“For me, he was a great and wise teacher. I loved and respected him deeply. I will miss him,” Gandhi tweeted.
Gogoi’s health condition deteriorated on Saturday afternoon as he became unconscious with difficulty in breathing. He was kept on a six-hour dialysis on Sunday.
In the days before he was diagnosed with COVID-19, Gogoi as active to form a Grand Alliance’ of all the opposition parties for the 2021 Assembly polls. He was elected chief minister of Assam in 2001 after he led the Congress to victory in the state elections. He then helmed two more consecutive victories for the party in the state. He was also a six-time parliamentarian and served as Union minister twice.
The report of Gogoi’s demise came hours after chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal tweeted that he was flying back to Guwahati from Dibrugarh to visit the veteran Congress leader. “Flying back to Guwahati from Dibrugarh after cancelling my programmes midway to be on the side of respected Tarun Gogoi da & his family as the former CM’s health deteriorates. He has always been a father figure to me,” he wrote.
Prayer meetings were held across the state for the former chief minister’s speedy recovery. Gogoi’s wife Dolly, daughter Chandrima and son Gaurav, who is a Congress MP from Kaliabor in Assam, were all present at the hospital.
(Manas Dasgupta)