President of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) Anjan Dutta passed away at the renowned All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in New Delhi due to cardiac failure on Thursday morning. He was 64.
Dutta has been undergoing treatment at the Pulmonary Science department of the AIIMS since May 18. The APCC president was first admitted to the Apollo Hospital in the national Capital on May 12 due to a chest infection. On May 18 he was shifted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the AIIMS.
A three-time legislator from Amguri constituency in Sivsagar district, Dutta was credited even by his critics for reviving the State-run Assam State Transport Commission (ASTC), which was dying due to financial mismanagement and several other factors.
Dutta, who became the State’s Transport Minister between 2001 to 2006 not only revived the ASTC but also turned it a profit making organisation setting example for others.He had also served as State Industry Minister and brought life and vigour to the State run Assam Tea Corporation.
Close to several AICC leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Dutta was given the charge of the ruling party in Assam when the party was hit by dissidence by a section of the legislators in 2014.
Family sources said that Dutta went to South Africa in after the Assam Assembly elections were over in April this year and fell sick on his return from South Africa. Although he was admitted to the Apollo Hospital in Delhi immediately, he was later shifted to the AIIMS and he has been kept in the ICU since then.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal while condoling the death of Dutta said that the State has lost a sincere and experienced politician as well as a prolific writer. “The people of the State will remember the service Dutta had offered to the state as a politician, a minister and as an individual,” Sonowal said.
Dutta has left behind his wife, three daughters and a host of relatives. His last rites will be performed at his ancestral house in Sivsagar on Friday.