Tarun Gogoi’s 15 years failed to resolve burning issues but offered stability to Assam

Former Assam chief minister and vetran Congress leader Tarun Gogoi

Former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi died of multiple organ failure in Guwahati, Assam, after battling with post-COVID-19 complications in a hospital where he was admitted since November 2. He was 86-years-old.

Gogoi’s long political career of over five decades began in 1968 when he was appointed a member of the Jorhat Municipal Board. He led the Congress to a record three consecutive electoral victories in Assam in 2001, 2006 and 2011. In hindsight, the 15 years of his regime had been a mixed bag for Assam that certainly witnessed stability but also increasing mis-governance and a failure of the government to come to grips with burning issues.

For the people of Assam, the Congress’ return to power in 2001 was a tremendous relief from the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) regime which promoted clandestine killings of relatives and associates of ULFA functionaries as a means to combat militancy. Within weeks of winning the polls, the Congress government transferred the officers orchestrating the killings to insipid departments. The squad of the surrendered ULFA who had joined hands with these officers had also fled the state fearing prosecution.

Also Read | Tarun Gogoi gave Assam a semblance of normalcy and sense of stability

Tarun Gogoi, former Assam CM, passes away at 86

It was also during Gogoi’s first tenure that the accord with the Bodoland Liberation Tigers was inked and serious efforts made by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre to engage ULFA in talks for a negotiated settlement. In an unprecedented development, National Security Adviser MK Narayanan despatched a letter to ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa specifying the government’s intent to hold talks on all ‘core issues’ that also meant discussion on Assam’s sovereignty. The results of ULFA’s failure to seize the opportunity are apparent that do not require any elaboration.

From 2008, ULFA and other rebel outfits in Assam had been continuously on the back foot for multiple reasons where the government’s efforts also played a crucial role. However, though the secret killings stopped, there was a sharp rise in fake encounters and surrenders as evidenced from the data gathered by Asian Centre For Human Rights.

Assam saw more developmental schemes under the Gogoi government as compared to the AGP regime. More villages were connected by roads with greater disbursal of funds from the Centre which might have also been possible due to the fact that former prime minister Manmohan Singh represented Assam in Rajya Sabha. A retired bureaucrat once recalled how Singh would often remind them that he had a responsibility towards the people of Assam. The rate of growth of the Gross State Domestic Product (at 1999-2000 constant price) jumped to 6.78 percent at the end of the Eleventh Five Year Plan in 2011-12 from 1.75 percent in 2001-02.

On the flip side, the Congress government in Assam failed to evolve long-term policies to tackle flood and erosion, create a mechanism to prevent the influx of and identify foreign nationals, or even to generate employment that could have stalled the large-scale migration from the villages that is currently discernible. In fact, the situation has worsened in Assam in so far as these issues are concerned. More chunks of land are being gobbled by the Brahmaputra and the devastation by floods has been increasing every year.

It is true that the tripartite agreement with the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), which led to the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), was clinched in 2005. But it was the Supreme Court that had to step in with orders for the update of the register. It is a different story that the NRC was embroiled in multiple controversies for which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and Supreme Court must share the blame.

Nonetheless, Gogoi side-lined the pro-Bangladeshi lobby in the Congress. He was aware about the dangers and the threat issued to former Congress Chief Minister Hiteswar Saikia that his government would be toppled if he continued to harp on illegal immigrants in the state. Gogoi did that with tremendous political dexterity and also managed to keep Maulana Badruddin Ajmal’s All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) at a safe distance.

His recent overtures for a pact with the party for the assembly polls next year had stunned many party functionaries who were apprehensive about the harmful implications of such a decision.

Tarun Gogoi’s demise will be a blow for the Congress, and Assam has lost its longest-serving Chief Minister.

Rajeev Bhattacharyya is a Guwahati-based senior journalist. Views are personal.