Tarun Gogoi

Tarun Gogoi (1 April 1936  23 November 2020) was an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Assam from 2001 to 2016. He was a member of the Indian National Congress and led the party to a record three consecutive electoral victories and was the longest serving Chief Minister of the state. During his tenure as the chief minister, he is credited with ending militant insurgency and mitigating violence in addition to improving the state's fiscal condition.

Tarun Gogoi
13th Chief Minister of Assam
In office
18 May 2001[1]  24 May 2016
GovernorSrinivas Kumar Sinha
Arvind Dave
Ajai Singh
Shiv Charan Mathur
K. Sankaranarayanan
Syed Sibtey Razi
Janaki Ballabh Patnaik
Padmanabha Acharya
Preceded byPrafulla Kumar Mahanta
Succeeded bySarbananda Sonowal
Member of Legislative Assembly
Titabar
In office
20 September 2001  23 November 2020
Preceded byDip Gogoi
Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Food Processing Industries
In office
1991–1996
Prime MinisterP. V. Narasimha Rao
Member of Parliament
Kaliabor
In office
1998–2001
Preceded byKeshab Mahanta
Succeeded byDip Gogoi
Member of Legislative Assembly
Margherita
In office
1996–1998
Preceded byKul Bahadur Chetri
Succeeded byPradyut Bordoloi
Member of Parliament
Kaliabor
In office
1991–1996
Preceded byBhadreswar Tanti
Succeeded byKeshab Mahanta
Member of Parliament
Jorhat
In office
1971–1984
Preceded byRajendranath Barua
Succeeded byParag Chaliha
Personal details
Born(1936-04-01)1 April 1936[2]
Rangamati Jorhat, Assam Province, British India
(present-day Assam, India)
Died23 November 2020(2020-11-23) (aged 84)
Guwahati, Assam, India
Political partyIndian National Congress
Spouse(s)Dolly Gogoi
ChildrenChandrima Gogoi and Gaurav Gogoi
Alma materGauhati University
ProfessionLawyer, politician
AwardsPadma Bhushan
Websiteassamassembly.gov.in/tarun-gogoi.html

He had also served six terms as a Member of parliament, Lok Sabha and had also served as an Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Food and Ministry of Food Processing Industries. He was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan,India's third highest civilian honor in 2021.[3][4]

Early life

Gogoi was born on 1 April 1936[2] into an ethnic Assamese Tai-Ahom family at Rangajan Tea Estate,[5][6] erstwhile Sibsagar District, now the Jorhat District of Assam.[7][8] His father, Kamaleshwar Gogoi[8] was a medical practitioner at Rangajan Tea Estate[8] and his mother, Usha Gogoi, was the younger sister of the Assamese poet Ganesh Gogoi.[8]

He began his primary education at No. 26 Rangajan Nimna Buniyadi Vidyalaya (lower foundation school), before moving on to Jorhat Madrassa School (through class IV), and Bholaguri High School (through class VI). He passed his Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSLC) from the Jorhat Government High School, before graduating from the Jagannath Barooah College. He obtained his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the Gauhati University.[9][10]

Political career

Gogoi started his political career as a member of the municipal board at Jorhat in 1968 before being elected to the Fifth Lok Sabha in 1971 from Jorhat. He represented Jorhat in Lok Sabha through the next two terms until 1985.[11] He represented Kaliabor in the Tenth Lok Sabha between 1991 and 1996, and the Twelfth and Thirteenth Lok Sabha between 1998 and 2001. He quit the Thirteenth Lok Sabha, mid-term, to assume office as the Chief Minister of Assam in 2001, serving a total of six terms as a member of parliament.[11][12]

During his second term in the Lok Sabha, he was elected as the Joint Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in 1976 under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.[13] He later served as the General Secretary of the AICC, from 1985 to 1990, under Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.[13] He served in the Union Cabinet of India under Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao as the Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries between 1991 and 1996.[11] He was a member of the Committee on Government Assurances, Consultative Committee, Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Committee on External Affairs in the Tenth Lok Sabha.[10] In the Thirteenth Lok Sabha he was a member of the Committee on Railways.[14]

He served as the President of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) between 1986 and 1990,[11] before being appointed as the President again in 1996.[10] Through has state legislative career he served four terms as a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA). He first represented the Margherita constituency between 1996 and 1998, and the Titabar constituency since 2001.[14]

He was elected Chief Minister of Assam in 2001, after leading the Indian National Congress to victory in the legislative assembly elections and led the party to a record three consecutive electoral victories in the state, emerging as the longest serving chief minister of the state in a tenure from 2001 through 2016.[14][10][15] Stemming from dissent within the party that saw 32 MLAs resign, he could not get the Indian National Congress to victory in the 2016 legislative assembly elections.[16] Sarbananda Sonowal from the Bharatiya Janata Party went on to win the elections and become the chief minister.[17]

Political legacy

In his career as the chief minister of Assam, Tarun Gogoi is credited with having brought the many militant outfits operating in the state including the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) to the negotiating table and mitigating militant insurgency within the state. It is noted that when he started his tenure, militant insurgency was at the peak in the State with multiple bomb blasts in Guwahati triggered by ULFA, riots and violent demands for accession in the Bodoland Territorial Region, and militant attacks on Hindi speakers.[18] By the time he ended his tenure as the chief minister, an improved law and order and a relatively violence free tenure were considered his legacy.[16][19]

He is also credited with improving the state's fiscal position, getting the state out from close to bankruptcy, and engineering an economic turnaround in the implementation of various state government led relief schemes, particularly for the rural areas.[16] His initiation of development projects in the state are credited with having stopped the flight of capital out of the state.[18]

Updating of the National Register of Citizens for Assam began during his tenure as the chief minister.[18]

Gogoi was posthumously included in the list of Padma Bhushan awardees, India's third highest civilian honor, for 2021.[20]

Personal life

Gogoi married Dolly Gogoi, a post-graduate in Zoology from Gauhati University, on 30 July 1972. The couple have two children, a daughter, Chandrima Gogoi, an MBA,[16] and a son, Gaurav Gogoi, a member of parliament from Kaliabor. His son holds a degree in Public administration from the New York University.[21][22] His profile at the state legislature has him marked as a hobby Golfer.[11]

He had had multiple heart surgeries during the latter part of his second term as the chief minister, including Bypass surgery, Aortic valve replacement, and a procedure to artificially enlarge the aorta, at Mumbai's Asian Heart Institute. He had an additional surgery just before the elections for his third term in 2011, to replace his Artificial cardiac pacemaker.[16] Gogoi had gone on to lead his party to a third term victory, recovering from these health issues.[16]

He died on 23 November 2020 at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital due to COVID-19 induced complications and multiple organ failure.[23][24][25] Earlier, he was hospitalized on 26 August 2020, with COVID-19 and had been given a blood plasma transplant.[26]

Positions

Source(s): [11][14]

  • 1968: Member, Municipal Board, Jorhat.
  • 1971: Elected to 5th Lok Sabha.
  • 1976: Joint Secretary, All India Congress Committee.
  • 1977: Re-elected to 6th Lok Sabha (2nd term).
  • 1983: Re-elected to 7th Lok Sabha (3rd term).
  • 1983: Joint Secretary All India Congress Committee (AICC(I)).
  • 1985: General Secretary, All India Congress Committee (AICC(I)).
  • 1986–1990: President, Pradesh Congress Committee (P.C.C.(I)), Assam.
  • 1991–1993: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Food.
  • 1993–1995: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge). Ministry of Food Processing Industry.
  • 1993–1995: Member, Assam Legislative Assembly.
  • 1997–1998: Elected as Member of ALA.
  • 1998–99: Member, Committee on Government Assurances.
  • 1998–99: Member, Committee on External Affairs.
  • 1998–99: Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
  • 1998: Re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha (5th term).
  • 1999: Re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (6th term).
  • 1999–2000: Member, Committee on Railways.
  • 18 May 2001: Assumed the Office of Chief Minister, Assam. (1st Term)
  • Sept-2001: Elected as Member of ALA.
  • 11 May 2006: Elected as Member of ALA.
  • 14 May 2006: Assumed the Office of Chief Minister, Assam. (2nd Term)
  • 13 May 2011: Elected as Member of ALA.
  • 18 May 2011: Assumed the Office of Chief Minister, Assam. (3rd Term)
  • 19 May 2016: Elected as MLA from 100 Titabar LAC.

References

  1. ZEE NEWS (18 May 2001). "Tarun Gogoi sworn in as new Assam Chief Minister". zeenews.india.com. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  2. "Assam Legislative Assembly – Member". assamassembly.gov.in. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  3. "Padma Awards 2021 announced". Ministry of Home Affairs. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  4. "Shinzo Abe, Tarun Gogoi, Ram Vilas Paswan among Padma Award winners: Complete list". The Times of India. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 28 March 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi turns 81 – The Economic Times". Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  7. "About Chief Minister of Assam". Government of Assam. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  8. Hussain, Wasbir (2010). Tarun Gogoi – the inside story of a blunt politician. Wordweaves India, Guwahati. pp. 11–55. ISBN 978-81-909903-2-5.
  9. Desk, Sentinel Digital (23 September 2019). "Former CM and Alumnus of JB College Tarun Gogoi discloses about his Love Story – Sentinelassam". www.sentinelassam.com.
  10. KolkataNovember 23, Manogya Loiwal; November 24, 2020UPDATED; Ist, 2020 00:57. "Longest-serving CM of Assam, six-time MP, lawyer: The long, illustrious career of Tarun Gogoi". India Today. Retrieved 24 November 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. "Assam Legislative Assembly – Member". assamassembly.gov.in. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  12. KolkataNovember 23, Manogya Loiwal; November 24, 2020UPDATED; Ist, 2020 00:57. "Longest-serving CM of Assam, six-time MP, lawyer: The long, illustrious career of Tarun Gogoi". India Today. Retrieved 24 November 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. "Assam CM Tarun Gogoi's official biography released". Times of India. 27 December 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  14. "Assam Legislative Assembly – About Chief Minister of Assam". 4 February 2012. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  15. sentinelassam.com 23 May 2013, 12.35PM IST (17 May 2013). "Tarun Gogoi : Leading from the front – The Sentinel". sentinelassam.com. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  16. Service, Tribune News. "Gogoi fails to weave his magic: The man and his story". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  17. "असम में कांग्रेस की सरकार संकट में,32 विधायकों का इस्तीफा - Anger against Tarun Gogoi increases, 32 MLAs resign -Patrika.com". 10 June 2015. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  18. Singh, Bikash. "Tarun Gogoi: The three-time Assam CM who broke the back of insurgency". The Economic Times. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  19. Karmakar, Rahul (23 November 2020). "Former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi dies aged 84". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  20. "Republic Day 2021: Tarun Gogoi, Ram Vilas Paswan among 10 Padma Bhushan awardees". Hindustan Times. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  21. "Members : Lok Sabha". 164.100.47.194. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  22. "Gaurav Gogoi | NYU Wagner". wagner.nyu.edu. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  23. "Former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi dies at 86". ndtv.com. NDTV. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  24. "Former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi passes away at 84". hindustantimes.com. Hindustan Times. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  25. "Former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi dies at 86". Scroll.in. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  26. "Tarun Gogoi, coronavirus positive, given plasma after sudden drop in oxygen level: Himanta Biswa Sarma". India Today. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
Lok Sabha
Preceded by
Rajendranath Barua
Member of Parliament
for Jorhat

1971–1984
Succeeded by
Parag Chaliha
Preceded by
Bhadreswar Tanti
Member of Parliament
for Kaliabor

1991–1996
Succeeded by
Keshab Mahanta
Preceded by
Keshab Mahanta
Member of Parliament
for Kaliabor

1998–2001
Succeeded by
Dip Gogoi
Political offices
Preceded by
Prafulla Kumar Mahanta
Chief Minister of Assam
17 May 2001 – 24 May 2016
Succeeded by
Sarbananda Sonowal
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.