India News | People Throng in Large Numbers to Pay Tribute to Tarun Gogoi

Guwahati, Nov 25 (PTI) Centenarian Subhadra Devi never imagined that she would have to see the mortal remains of Tarun Gogoi, who used to address her as 'Maa'.

Frail and unable to walk without help, the 104-year-old woman came with a constant stream of people to Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra on Wednesday to have a last glimpse of the former chief minister.

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"Why did he go? I cannot accept that he is no more. He was like my son. He used to call me Maa," she said, sobbing uncontrollably at the complex where the body of the Congress veteran has been kept for the people to pay tribute.

Along with her, several other grandmothers have come from 'Mother Old Age Home' to offer their last respect to Gogoi.

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Utpal Kumar Harshavardhan, secretary of the old age home, said that when Gogoi had visited the NGO, he addressed Devi as 'Maa' after knowing that her own son had expired some years back.

The Congress stalwart died here on Monday while undergoing treatment for post-COVID-19 complications.

It was a sea of people at the complex, located in Panjabari ares of the state capital, coming to see their beloved leader for the last time. The veteran politician's wife, daughter, daughter-in- law and grandchildren were also at the complex.

Students, youths, senior citizens from different parts of the state came, party spokesperson Rhituporna Konwar said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi paid tributes to the mortal remains of the former chief minister in the morning and called the grand old party veteran his guru.

He said Gogoi's demise is a personal loss for him.

"I think Gogoi ji was not just a leader of Assam. He was a formidable CM and a national leader. He inspired us by bringing people of Assam together and bringing peace to the state.

"I spent many hours with Gogoi ji. He was my teacher, my guru. Gaurav was his son, but he treated me also like his own son... It's a personal loss to me," Rahul Gandhi said. Former Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma also paid tributes to Gogoi, saying "Whenever there was a crisis in Northeast, we used to approach Gogoi ji. He was a collective voice of the people of the region."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)