Here are some facts about one of India’s and Assam’s tallest leaders, Tarun Gogoi, who passed away today at 5:34 pm in Guwahati after prolonged illness.
Birth
1936 - Born to a tea garden doctor Kamleswar Gogoi and Usha Gogoi on April 1, 1936, in Assam's Jorhat district.
Gogoi was fondly called 'Punakon' by his parents
Education
Schooling at Jorhat Government Boys School
BA from Dibrugarh University
Joined the Allahabad University to pursue law degree but returned to Assam and completed law from Gauhati University
Take a look at his illustrious career:
Foray into politics:
1952 – Highly motivated by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who visited Jorhat in 1952
Plunged into student politics at Jagannath Barooah College
1963 - Joined Congress
First election victory
1968 - Won civic polls, appointed a member of the Jorhat Municipal Board
1971 - Led the Youth Congress of Assam
Six terms as a Member of Parliament (MP) from the Lok Sabha:
1972 - Elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time from the Jorhat parliamentary constituency
1972-1985 - First three terms from Jorhat constituency
1991–96/1998–2002 - Next three terms were from Kaliabor constituency
Gogoi was member of the fifth, sixth, seven, ten, twelve and thirteenth Lok Sabha
Family
1972 - Tarun Gogoi married Dolly, a post graduate in zoology from Gauhati University. They have two children- daughter, Chandrima, an MBA who lives abroad with her family, and son Gaurav, who represents the Kaliabor constituency and currently the deputy leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha.
1976 - Elected Joint Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) under Indira Gandhi
1980s – Joint Secretary of Congress
1986 - Rajiv Gandhi made him the general secretary of the Congress
1986 - After the Rajiv Gandhi government signed the Assam Accord of 1986, Tarun Gogoi was given the responsibility to rebuild the Congress in the state
1986-90 - President of Assam State Congress
MoS in Central Government under then PM PV Narasimha Rao
1991-1995 - Union Minister of Food Processing with independent charge
1996 - Reappointed as President of Assam State Congress
1996-2001: Headed the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee
First election as MLA:
1996-98 - Gogoi was first elected as a Member of the Assam Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Margherita Constituency
Elected Chief Minister of Assam in 2001:
2001 - Elected as the chief minister for first time in 2001. And, went on to occupy the office for three successive times
Tarun Gogoi was the chief minister of Assam thrice before being succeeded by the BJP's Sarbananda Sonowal in 2016. He ended his tenure in 2016 as the longest-serving chief minister of Assam.
Other lesser known facts:
Stand against CAA
- Was one of the petitioners who challenged the Citizenship law
- Strong votary against the implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the state
- Appeared as a lawyer in the Supreme Court in the case pertaining to the validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act
- Maintained that Assam Accord must be implemented in letter and spirit and should not be diluted in any way
- Said as per the Assam Accord the names of every Indian whose name was in the voter list should be in the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
- Took part in protest rallies demanding the restoration of reservation policy for SC/STs/OBCs
- Took part in protest rallies against the Citienship Amendment Act in Guwahati and Delhi
- Credited with bringing the dreaded ULFA to the negotiating table
Donned lawyer's robes after a gap of 36 years
Till 1983, Tarun Gogoi was appearing for cases in courts. But, was not seen for 36 years until December 2019 he went to the Supreme Court to fight CAA.
Here is his son Gaurav Gogoi's tweet:
