Tarun Gogoi, a few months short of his 82nd birthday, is hoping for a third consecutive term as the Chief Minister of Assam.
Jorhat. Assam:
Being described by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as his "senior" who is "nearing 90", has irked Tarun Gogoi enough to merit a detailed response.
"I am just a little above 80, and as fit as anyone," said Mr Gogoi.
Mr Gogoi, who is a few months short of his 82nd birthday, is hoping for a third consecutive term as the Chief Minister of Assam.
On Sunday morning, NDTV caught the Gogoi family at breakfast. Campaigning for the Assam assembly elections is at its peak, with voting due to begin next week. It is the first time in a month the family has managed to get together for a quick bite at Jorhat -- close to Mr Gogoi's constituency of Titabor, which he has retained since 2001, leading the Congress to three straight terms in the state.
The spread is elaborate -- cornflakes, milk, eggs, chana daal, lucchi, roti and fruits. And for discussion, there's Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech in Assam on Saturday.
"Assam's neta, and he'll be 90 in a few days, he said my fight is with Modi. Sir, you are so elderly, I am young. Our culture says the young don't fight the old. So I have no fight with Gogoi," Mr Modi had said in Tinsukia.
"Sometimes my ministers ask me how I travel so much," Mr Gogoi continued. "You see, I do a mixture of yoga and other exercises. I also cycle, but I haven't managed to do so in the last few months."
"It's ok," said Mr Gogoi's wife, Dolly. "You look at a person's calibre, charisma, not his age. Eventually, the people will decide," she said.
Suggestions about a younger person leading the Congress campaign are unjustified, said Mr Gogoi's son, 33-year-old Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi.
"Assam is complicated, multi-cultural... You need someone like Mr Gogoi to lead. I am very inexperienced and busy with my Lok Sabha work," said Gogoi Junior.
His wife of two years, UK-born Elizabeth Gogoi, says she has warmed up now both to Indian food and politics. "Politics is the same everywhere, a mixture of good and bad. But it's very different in India. Huge rallies, lots of crowd," she said.
We leave the Gogois to finish their breakfast. It will be another hectic day of campaigning.
"I am just a little above 80, and as fit as anyone," said Mr Gogoi.
Mr Gogoi, who is a few months short of his 82nd birthday, is hoping for a third consecutive term as the Chief Minister of Assam.
On Sunday morning, NDTV caught the Gogoi family at breakfast. Campaigning for the Assam assembly elections is at its peak, with voting due to begin next week. It is the first time in a month the family has managed to get together for a quick bite at Jorhat -- close to Mr Gogoi's constituency of Titabor, which he has retained since 2001, leading the Congress to three straight terms in the state.
The spread is elaborate -- cornflakes, milk, eggs, chana daal, lucchi, roti and fruits. And for discussion, there's Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech in Assam on Saturday.
"Assam's neta, and he'll be 90 in a few days, he said my fight is with Modi. Sir, you are so elderly, I am young. Our culture says the young don't fight the old. So I have no fight with Gogoi," Mr Modi had said in Tinsukia.
"Sometimes my ministers ask me how I travel so much," Mr Gogoi continued. "You see, I do a mixture of yoga and other exercises. I also cycle, but I haven't managed to do so in the last few months."
"It's ok," said Mr Gogoi's wife, Dolly. "You look at a person's calibre, charisma, not his age. Eventually, the people will decide," she said.
Suggestions about a younger person leading the Congress campaign are unjustified, said Mr Gogoi's son, 33-year-old Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi.
"Assam is complicated, multi-cultural... You need someone like Mr Gogoi to lead. I am very inexperienced and busy with my Lok Sabha work," said Gogoi Junior.
His wife of two years, UK-born Elizabeth Gogoi, says she has warmed up now both to Indian food and politics. "Politics is the same everywhere, a mixture of good and bad. But it's very different in India. Huge rallies, lots of crowd," she said.
We leave the Gogois to finish their breakfast. It will be another hectic day of campaigning.
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