Gaurav Gogoi takes charge as new Assam Congress chief

Guwahati: Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi on Tuesday assumed charge as the Assam Congress president and he is all set to lead the party in next year's assembly polls.

He was handed over the reins by outgoing president Bhupen Kumar Borah, who had helmed the state's main opposition party for over three years, at the state Congress headquarters here.

Senior party leaders, including AICC general secretary Jitendra Singh and Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Debabrata Saikia were present on the occasion.

Gogoi visited Kamakhya temple before taking charge as the Congress's state unit chief.

Speaking to reporters after assuming charge, Gogoi said the party will continue to be inspired by its ideology of equality and inclusiveness.

"Inspired by the ideology of leaders from Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru to Hitestwar Saikia and Tarun Gogoi, we will together take the party forward," he said.

Gogoi was named the new state unit chief by the party's central leadership last week at a time when Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had been attacking him over his British wife's alleged connection with Pakistan's spy agency ISI.

Gogoi, the Congress's deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, had flown to his constituency Jorhat from New Delhi on Saturday.

He undertook a three-day procession from Sivasagar to Guwahati, reaching the city late on Monday evening.

The rally had stopovers at different places, including Titabor, Jorhat, Nagaon, Morigaon and Jagiroad, where party workers felicitated Gogoi and he addressed his supporters.