Assam: Tarun Gogoi was born on 11 October 1934 at Rangajan Tea Estate in Jorhat (erstwhile Sivasagar District) of Assam to Dr Kamleshwar Gogoi, a medical practitioner at the Rangajan Tea Estate and Usha Gogoi, well known for compiling a collection of poetry called 'Hiyar Samahar'
Tarun Gogoi began his primary education at No. 26 Rangajan Nimna Buniyadi Vidyalaya before joining Jorhat Madrassa School.
After which Gogoi went to Bholaguri High School near Badulipar Tea Estate and studied there till standard VI. He was enrolled in the Jorhat Government High School in 1949 and passed the HSLC examination from there.
Gogoi graduated from Jagannath Barooah College in Jorhat district and completed his LLB from Gauhati University, Assam.
Tarun Gogoi was married on 30 July 1972 to Dolly Gogoi. The couple has two children: daughter Chandrima an MBA while son Gaurav, an MP from Kaliabar parliamentary constituency, holds a degree in public administration from New York University.
POLITICAL CAREER
Tarun Gogoi's political career began in 1968 when he was appointed as a member of the Jorhat Municipal Board.
In 1971, Gogoi was elected to the fifth Lok Sabha during the tenure of Indira Gandhi an in 1976 Gogoi was elected as the Joint Secretary of All India Congress Committee (AICC). He won in the 6th and 7th Lok Sabha elections in 1977 and 1980 respectively.
During Rajiv Gandhi’s term as the Prime Minister of India from 1985 to 1990, Tarun Gogoi was promoted to the post of General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee.
At the same time, he also served as the President of the Pradesh Congress Committee, Assam.
Tarun Gogoi was the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Food between 1991 and 1993 and from 1993 to 1995, served as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Food Processing Industry.
In 1997, he was elected to the Assam Legislative Assembly from Margherita Assembly Constituency.
In the following year, Tarun Gogoi held memberships of Committee on Government Assurances, Committee on External Affairs and Consultative Committee, Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
In 1998 and 1999, Gogoi was elected to the 12th and 13th Lok Sabha respectively.
He contested the 2001 Assam Legislative Assembly elections from Titabar assembly segment successfully and led the Congress to victory in the state and assumed charge as the chief minister of Assam. He repeated his success in the 2006 and 2011 assembly elections as well.
But in the 2014 Parliamentary Elections, the Congress won only three out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam while the BJP won a record seven seats.
Following the Congress' debacle in the 2014 General Elections, Tarun Gogoi offered resignation and hinted at not leading the party in the next Assam Legislative Assembly elections.
However, he was reappointed as the party's CM candidate for the 2016 Assam Assembly elections.
In the 2016 assembly elections, Tarun Gogoi’s tenure as the Chief Minister of the state came to an end with the defeat of the Indian National Congress.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND CONTROVERSIES
Tarun Gogoi held the position of Assam's chief minister for three consecutive terms from 2001 to 2016.
During his tenure, he managed to curb insurgency in the state. He also claimed that over 85 lakh people of Assam got employment during his term.
Tarun Gogoi landed in controversy when he was caught dancing at a tea estate even as the nation was in mourning on the demise of former president A.P. J. Abdul Kalam. Gogoi was dancing the traditional folk dance with two girls of the local tea tribe.
Later, he apologised for his actions. He also stoked controversy when he claimed that four of the Padma awardees of 2016 were selected on the BJP's instructions.
Tarun Gogoi loved reading and gardening and was also interested in cricket, football and tennis and used to play golf as well.
He was the former Treasurer of the All Assam Moina Parijat and Children's Organisations and ex-Chairman of Bharat Yuvak Samaj and was the longest-serving chief minister of Assam.
