Ex-Assam CM Tarun Gogoi, undergoing treatment for post-COVID complications, dies
Former Assam Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Tarun Gogoi died on Monday. Gogoi was undergoing treatment for post-COVID complications. He had been suffering from multi-organ dysfunction. The 86-year-old, who was known for being the longest-serving CM of Assam, had a political career spanning over five decades, assuming various positions within the Congress party, the central government, and the Assam administration.
Gogoi was hospitalized in August earlier this year after he tested positive for COVID-19. He was discharged after recovery, however, he had to be rushed to the Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) again on November 2 with post-COVID complications. He was placed on non-invasive ventilation initially. However, as his condition worsened, he was put on invasive ventilation on Saturday night.
Earlier Monday, GMCH Superintendent Abhijit Sarma had said that Gogoi's condition was "very, very critical." Doctors said he was on dialysis on Sunday, which he could sustain for six hours. His blood pressure kept fluctuating and he was breathing entirely with the help of machines.
Gogoi was born on April 1, 1934, to an ethnic Assamese Tai-Ahom family at Rangajan Tea Estate located in Assam's Jorhat district. His father was a medical practitioner at the tea estate while her mother was known for her collection of poetry called Hiyar Samahar. After graduating from the Jagannath Barooah College, he did his LLB from Gauhati University, Assam.
Gogoi's political career took off when he was elected to the Parliament in 1971. He served as a Lok Sabha MP six times over his career. In the Narasimha Rao administration (1991-95), he had also served in the Union Cabinet as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Food and Food Processing Industry. He served three consecutive terms as Assam CM from 2001-2016.
Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal condoled Gogoi's death saying, "We shared a wonderful rapport and he was a guiding figure." Calling him a "people's leader," Sonowal extended his condolences to the family. PM Narendra Modi tweeted saying that he was "anguished" by Gogoi's passing. President Ram Nath Kovind also expressed grief saying, "His long tenure in office was a period of epochal change in Assam."
