The 2011 Assembly polls was a defining moment in the political career of Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi as under his leadership the Congress not only won for the third straight time but the Opposition was completely washed out.
While Gogoi was Congress’s star campaigner in that election, in every rally a young lad would accompany him, and many of Gogoi’s ardent followers did not know that it was his son Gaurav, now an MP from Koliabor in Upper Assam.
Five years down the line, as Gogoi and the ruling Congress faces a tough electoral battle waged by the Opposition combine of BJP-BPF and AGP, the 33-year-old Gaurav many believe is trying to fit into his father’s shoes.
“Gaurav is young and he is gathering experience. He is working very hard for the party, doing several meetings in a day. This is how you build grassroot connect and I also did the same way. But there is no question of Gaurav being considered for CM post after me as suggested by media reports because he is still a fresher in politics.
We have many senior leaders,” Gogoi had told Deccan Herald last week during an interview.
While other top leaders from the Congress and the BJP in Assam have been seen busy with ‘padyatras’ and public rallies, Gaurav has taken to the rather old-fashioned campaign. He is travelling to the remote areas of all the constituencies in upper Assam, the Congress’s stronghold, holding small courtyard and street-corner meetings and even door-to-door campaigning for party candidates.
“My idea is to connect to more and more people and also to the farthest voter who might not be able to come for a centralised meeting. The response has been very good and I hope my efforts will do good for the party,” Gaurav told Deccan Herald on the sidelines of a meeting with about 400 garden labourers in Chungi tea estate in the interiors of Jorhat district.
In order to cover more area and connect with more people, Gaurav is hitting the road at dawn and conducting village-level and booth-level meetings till midnight.
With more the 12 hours on the roads in a day and at least 10 meetings, the junior Gogoi is creating a space for himself. Gaurav has also been one of the key election war-room managers for the Congress in Assam. He has been handling a team of professionals on social and digital media campaigns and doubling up as a poll researcher, and even a fact-checker for his father’speeches, a source said.
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