Former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi's cremation on Thursday, body to be taken to temple, mosque and church

The mortal remains of Tarun Gogoi will be cremated on Thursday in Guwahati, Assam.

The mortal remains of former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi will be cremated on Thursday in Guwahati, state Congress chief Ripun Bora said. Briefing the press at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) where Gogoi breathed last on Monday, Bora said the body will be taken to his official residence at Dispur from the hospital on Tuesday morning.

"The doctors will complete necessary medical formalities in the night to prepare the body for keeping it safe for three days," said Bora, a Rajya Sabha MP.

After that, Gogoi's body will be taken to state secretariat Janata Bhawan where he sat for 15 years as the chief minister, and then to state Congress headquarters Rajiv Bhawan around 3.30 pm. He will be cremated with full state honours and the venue will be decided in consultation with his family.

"His wife Dolly and son Gaurav requested Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to keep his body for one day for the public. As per the family's wish, the government will take the body to the Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra complex in Guwahati on Tuesday evening and it will be there for the whole day on November 25," Bora said.

On November 26, Gogoi's last journey will start from Kalakshetra and his cremation will take place in Guwahati instead of his hometown Titabor, he said. "As per his last wish, the body will be taken to a temple, mosque and church before the last rites," he added.

Bora said many central leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, from the party are likely to visit Assam over the next three days to pay their last respect to Gogoi.

Gogoi died at the age of 84 while undergoing treatment for post-COVID-19 complications. He was the chief minister of Assam from 2001 to 2016, a six-time parliamentarian and Union minister twice. The veteran leader was a three-term Assam chief minister

Gogoi, thrice chief minister of the state from 2001 to 2016, breathed his last at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) at 5.34 pm,  state Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. The doctors conducted an ECG and found that his heart has stopped, following which the GMCH superintendent confirmed that he is no more, he said.

The veteran Congress leader was first admitted to the hospital on August 26 after testing positive for COVID-19 and was discharged for a brief period before being admitted again on November 2. His condition deteriorated on November 21, following multi-organ failure and was put on invasive ventilation.

Gogoi was given dialysis on Sunday. His condition deteriorated further over the past few hours and the hospital where he was admitted said he was "very, very critical". Gogoi was the MLA from the Titabor assembly constituency since 2001. He was also a six-time parliamentarian and became Union minister twice.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled Gogoi's death, describing the Congress veteran as a popular leader. "Shri Tarun Gogoi Ji was a popular leader and a veteran administrator, who had years of political experience in Assam as well as the Centre. Anguished by his passing away. "My thoughts are with his family and supporters in this hour of sadness. Om Shanti," PM Modi said on Twitter.

President Ram Nath Kovind condoled the demise of Gogoi and said his passing away marks the end of an era. His long tenure in office was a period of epochal change in the state, the president said. "Extremely sad to know of the demise of Shri Tarun Gogoi, former Chief Minister of Assam. The country has lost a veteran leader with rich political and administrative experience. His long tenure in office was a period of epochal change in Assam," Kovind tweeted.

He will always be remembered for the development of Assam and especially towards his efforts to improve law and order and fighting insurgency in the state, he said in another tweet. "His passing away marks the end of an era. In this hour of grief, condolences to his family, friends and supporters," the President said. 

Tarun Gogoi should be remembered for his smile, his ideals and commitment to the people of the state, his son and Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi said on Monday. Speaking to the press at Gauhati Medical College Hospital where the Congress veteran died while undergoing treatment for post-COVID-19 complications, a sobbing Gaurav said that his father fought till the end. "He was waiting for his daughter and grand-children to arrive. He bade us farewell only after they came," he said.

The former chief minister's daughter, Chandrima Gogoi, lives in the US and arrived in Guwahati on Saturday. "This year has been strange for me. God gave me a girl but also took my father away. This is the truth and I have accepted his passing away as God's will," Gaurav said.

Gaurav and his Britain-born wife Elizabeth Colburn Gogoi have two children -- a boy, and a girl who was born earlier this year. "As a son, I am proud of him and he will always remain within my heart and soul. He fulfilled all his responsibilities as a father and also as the guardian of the people of the state," he said.

Gaurav appealed to the people to remember his father's smiling face, and not as he was bed-ridden at the hospital in the last days of his life. "People of Assam should remember him and his smile, which will always be engraved in our hearts. His smile will remain with us," the deputy leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha said.

He may not be physically present with us but his ideals and the lessons he taught will always be there, Gaurav said. "He will always be within me and whenever I find myself faced with a difficult situation or a tough question, I will look to him for an answer and I am sure about hearing his voice," he said.

Gaurav has been on his father's side since he was readmitted to the hospital on November 2 and was briefing the press over the last two days since the former chief minister's condition took a turn for the worse.