JORHAT, June 17 - Family members, political leaders and thousands of people of different political ideologies from Gaurisagar, Dikhowmukh, Jhanji, Amguri, Nazira , Sivasagar and many other nearby localities today bid a tearful adieu to Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Anjan Dutta on the premises of Gaurisagar Block Congress Office where he was cremated with full state honours.
After performing the religious rituals at Dutta�s residence in Sivasagar town his body was carried in an open vehicle to Gaurisagar. His eldest daughter Ankita Dutta lit the pyre.
As Dutta had close attachment with the Gaurisagar Block Congress since the period of his first victory in the Assembly elections in 1991, the Congress workers decided to cremate him on the office premises as a mark of their great love and respect for him.
The State Government�s representative, Forest Minister Pramila Rani Brahma attended the cremation where senior Congress leaders, including Dr CP Joshi, former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Congress Legislative Party leader Debabrata Saikia, Congress MLAs Rupjyoti Kurmi and Rakibul Hussain, senior leader Dr Hemoprava Saikia, BJP MLA Tapan Gogoi and many others were also present.
�His death is irreparable to all of us. We have lost a leader in true sense who courageously raised the issues of public interest. People will keep him alive in their hearts,� said Debabrata Saikia, who had close attachment with Dutta since his childhood.
Talking to this correspondent several citizens of Jorhat and Sivasagar districts said that Dutta�s leadership qualities will remain a source of inspiration for the people�s representatives of the State as he boldly criticised even the past government of his own party while he found some faults in the system of governance.
In Jorhat, Congress leaders and workers and locals paid their tribute to Dutta at the district Congress office here, while his body was being carried from the Rowriah airport to Sivasagar.
