Guwahati: Former Assam Chief Minister late Tarun Gogoi seems to be inseparable from Assam politics.
Hit by a strong leadership crisis and infighting among the ranks and files of the party, the grand old party is going to contest the April polls with the image of Late Tarun Gogoi. The Congress which has been facing severe leadership crisis has planned its election campaigning keeping the memories of Late Tarun Gogoi alive, a charismatic leader who dominated Assam's political landscape for nearly two decades.
Late Gogoi almost single-handedly brought the Congress to power in 2001 in Assam and could retain the same till 2016, when the Congress lost to the BJP. Gogoi had also earned the rare distinction of becoming the longest-serving chief minister of Assam, continuing in office for three consecutive terms. Gogoi breathed his last on November 23 last year due to post-COVID-19 complications.
The party has already drawn an emotional poll campaigning strategy, highlighting the memories of the late former Chief Minister. While all the rallies and election meetings of the party was seen adorning the photographs of the former three-time Chief Minister, the party had also taken steps to take the ashes of the visionary leader to all the districts in the state for immersion in the rivers and water bodies--an effective strategy to draw public sentiment ahead of the assembly elections.
Tarun Gogoi's son Gaurav Gogoi is currently on a month-long tour of the state the Shanti Sadbhavana Yatra of 'Jana Neta' (Peoples' leader) Tarun Gogoi has crossed 21 districts of Assam and today entered Baksa. During this journey, the Sarva- dharma Prarthana sabhas or multi-faith prayer ceremonies have been a source of peace and courage. I am grateful to the devotees.
Also read: LIVE: Former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi's last rites
The Congress, however, puts this in another way. "This is not related to the leadership crisis. Whatever Tarun Gogoi has done for the state is admitted by even the opposition leaders. Even the economists and intellectuals of the state are of the view that Late Gogoi had lifted the state out of the financial mess created by his predecessors. They are also of the view that It is Late Gogoi who had led the state during the darkest hour of the state's history. He had created employment opportunities. So where is the harm if we highlight the achievements of Late Gogoi as a chief minister," said senior Assam Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Durga Das Boro.
"The BJP is highlighting the works they had done in the last five years under the leadership of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. So if we want to draw a parallel, it is the works of the Congress government led by Tarun Gogoi in the three terms in office. Late Gogoi is an ideal for the Congress party and hence we are putting up his photographs in the forefront of our campaigns," said Boro.
A divided house and without a face to put up as Chief Ministerial candidate for the forthcoming polls, the party is also pinning hope on the Chhattisgarh model in 2018 which did the math right for the party in Chhattisgarh. Congress had not put any potential CM face in Chhattisgarh in 2018 but put in front leaders like Bhupesh Baghel, TS Singh Deo, Charan Das Mahant and Tamradhwaj Sahu as a team, which succeeded.
Likewise, the Congress in Assam had also divided the whole state into four zones to be led by four faces - Late Tarun Gogoi's son and Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi, Lok Sabha MP Pradyut Bordoloi, former Leader of Opposition in Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia and former Lok Sabha MP from Silchar Sushmita Dev.
