Former CM Tarun Gogoi Celebrates His 85th Birthday Today

Guwahati, October 11, 2019:

Veteran Congress leader and 3-time former Chief Minister of Assam, Tarun Gogoi, is celebrating his 85th birth anniversary today with his near and dear ones.

Early in the morning, Tarun Gogoi along with his family visited the Kamakhya Temple and sought blessings from the goddess at the ‘Shakti Peeth”.

Then, he visited the Mother Old-age Home in Hatigaon and celebrated his birthday with the members of the old- age home and his family. He was seen distributing sweets along with his wife Dolly Gogoi, son Gaurav Gogoi, daughter Chandrima and her son who came all along from San Francisco to celebrate his birthday.

[caption id="attachment_42574" align="alignnone" width="660"] Gogoi's family at Mother Old- Age Home[/caption]

Born into an ethnic Assamese Tai-Ahom family at Rangajan Tea Estate at Jorhat district, Gogoi stands as one of the strongest personalities of the Congress party in the state.

Apart from politics, the veteran leader is fond of books that are based on history and contemporary topics. Recently, he said that he is reading the last book on Assam Accord by Sangita Baruah Pisharoty. He completed reading Shashi Tharoor’s latest release and 'India After Independence' by Ramchandra Guha.

Gogoi started his career as ward member of Jorhat Municipality in 1969. In 1971, he was elected as Member of Parliament and served for six terms till 2001, first from Jorhat and later from Koliabor.

Gogoi became a political leader with national stature after he was elected Joint Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in 1976 under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Gogoi served as the President of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) from 1986 to 1990. He was elected to a second term as President in 1996. Gogoi has since served four terms as a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) in the legislature of Assam from 1986 to 2001. He was elected Chief Minister of Assam in 2001 after he led the Indian National Congress to victory in the state elections. He held his position as the CM of Assam for 15 years.

Meanwhile, the Congress party members have also wished the veteran leader on his birthday. Assam Congress President Ripun Bora wrote on Twitter, "Wishing you a very Happy Birthday @tarun_gogoi Sir. May god bless you with good health and long life."

Support Inside Northeast (InsideNE), an independent media platform that focuses on Citizen-centric stories from Northeast India that are surprising, inspiring, cinematic and emotionally relevant.