Assam Assembly Elections 2016: Know your leader Profile- Tarun Gogoi

The Congress government in Assam is currently spearheaded by Tarun Gogoi, who has been the Chief Minister since May 2001.

The longest serving chief minister of Assam, Gogoi has led the Congress to victory in three consecutive legislative assembly elections in the state.

However, anti-incumbency have been on the rise against Gogoi who is facing allegations of being involved in corruption and nepotism while pushing development on a back foot in the state.

Assembly Elections in Assam are scheduled to be held in two phases on 4th and 11th April 2016 to elect members of the 126 constituencies in the state. Poll results will be declared on 19th May.

Know your state-Assam

Let's take a look at the brief profile of Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

Date and place of birth: Born on 1st April 1936, at Rangajan Tea Estate in Jorhat (erstwhile Sivasagar District), Assam.

Family history: Tarun Gogoi was born into an ethnic Assamese Tai-Ahom family, to Dr. Kamleshwar Gogoi and Usha Gogoi. His father was a medical practitioner at the Rangajan Tea Estate, while his mother is known for compiling a collection of poetry called 'Hiyar Samahar'.

Gogoi started his academics at No. 26 Rangajan Nimna Buniyadi Vidyalaya. Later, he joined Jorhat Madrassa School and stayed there till standard IV. Gogoi then attended Bholaguri High School near Badulipar Tea Estate and studied there till standard VI.

He passed the HSLC examination from Jorhat Government High School in 1949 and graduated from Jagnnath Barooah College in district Jorhat. Gogoi then did LLB from Gauhati University, Assam.

He got married on 30 July 1972 to Dolly Gogoi, a post graduate degree holder in Zoology from Gauhati University. The couple has two children - a daughter Chandrima who is an MBA and son Gaurav, an MP from Kaliabar parliamentary constituency.

Political career: Tarun Gogoi's political career took off in 1968 when he was appointed as a member of the Jorhat Municipal Board. Gogoi became a political leader with national stature after he was elected Joint Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in 1976 under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

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 1985-1990 Gogoi was promoted as the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee. Simultaneously, he served as the President of the Pradesh Congress Committee, Assam.

Gogoi was the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Food in 1991-1993. From 1993 to 1995, he 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.

Gogoi was elected Chief Minister of Assam in 2001 after he led the Indian National Congress to victory in the state elections. He has since led the party to a record three consecutive electoral victories in the state as Chief Minister.

But outcome of the 2014 Parliamentary Elections , where Congress won only three out of 14 Lok Sabha seats from Assam has called for a reality check for Gogoi as well as the grand old party . In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls BJP got seven seats, which is the highest number of seats won by the party in any Lok Sabha election in Assam.

Before the election, Gogoi had declared that he would resign from the post of Chief Minister if the Congress party won less than seven out of 14 Lok Sabha seats. Also, in July 2014 Gogoi had indicated that he might not lead the party in the 2016 Assembly elections.

Performance as Assam CM: Recently, Tarun Gogoi laid the foundation of the much-awaited Metro line project in Guwahati, with the formation of special purpose vehicle namely Guwahati metro rail corporation limited for implementing the project.

While the Chief Minister states that he has significantly contributed to the rise in Gross State Domestic Product, per capita income, annual plan size and total deposits, while also improving infrastructure overall development of the state has shown otherwise.

Tarun Gogoi also had to appear in court in January this year in connection with a 100 crore defamation suit by BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, his former lieutenant who left the Congress in August 2015.

Sarma had then alleged that he "could bring many Congress MLAs to the BJP, but there will be a problem of accommodating them in the party"- reflecting an internal conflict within the Congress party under Gogoi's leadership.