Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma pens warm tribute to Tarun Gogoi, says he rescued Assam from 'period of darkness'

GUWAHATI: Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam's Finance Minister, today mourned the loss of his one-time mentor Tarun Gogoi, the 86-year-old Congress veteran who passed away at 5:34 PM in the evening today after a two-month-long battle with post-COVID complications.

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"A man of grand vision & extraordinary passion, Sri Tarun Gogoi was an intensely people's man, focused on progress & enjoyed support of all. I was lucky to have worked under him," Biswa Sarma wrote on Facebook, adding, "He rescued Assam from a period of darkness & led it for 15 years ensuring a new phase of development. The loss of Shri Tarun Gogoi is huge & his absence will mean a vacuum in Assam's politics that shall be difficult to fill. I offer my condolences to the bereaved family & pray to God to give his soul eternal peace."

Biswa Sarma, it may be recalled, was once called the "blue-eyed boy" of Tarun Gogoi. A former member of the Indian National Congress, Sarma joined Bharatiya Janata Party in August 2015. Needless to say, Sarma's joining of the BJP caused a war of words between him and his former mentor.

In spite of the spats between the two, there is reason to believe that there is respect between the two, who were the main architects of the Congress' 15-year-long rule in Assam.

After Gogoi fell ill from the COVID, Biswa Sarma has been actively involved in restoring his health. In August, while Gogoi was recovering from the COVID, Himanta Biswa Sarma visited the Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) to enquire about the health condition of former state chief minister Tarun Gogoi. Wearing personal protection equipment (PPE) kit, Sarma visited the unit where Gogoi was recuperating.

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