• Assam: Former minister and Congress leader Sarat Barkotoky passes away

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    Assam: Former minister and Congress leader Sarat Barkotoky passes away
    As a devoted member of Congress, Barkotoky won Legislative Assembly elections till 2016...

    Digital Desk: Former MLA, senior politician and former minister of Assam, Sarat Barkotoky passed away on Monday morning at the age of 88. 

    Barkotoky was a prominent politician who served as a minister of state in the administration of Hiteswar Saikia, the previous chief minister of Assam.

    As per sources, Barkotaky was undergoing treatment at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) where he breathed his last.

    He served as an MLA from Sonari constituency for 25 years, i.e., from 1991 to 2011.

    The leader also served as education minister in 2015 during former Chief Minister Late Tarun Gogoi’s tenure.

    Barkotoky was born to the late Hem Chandra Barkotoky and the late Chandra Probha Barkotoky in Mathurapur, Sonari, on March 1, 1935. 

    As a devoted member of Congress, Barkotoky won Legislative Assembly elections till 2016, when he was defeated by BJP candidate Topon Kumar Gogoi by a margin of 24117 votes. Among the ten cabinet ministers who were defeated in the election was him.

    Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma also expressed grief over the loss of the senior leader.

    The chief minister posted, "I am saddened to hear of the passing of the senior politician, former Minister of Government of Assam, Sarat Barkataki. As a colleague for many years, he was a man of clean personality and a talented politician from whom I learnt a lot. His demise is a huge loss to the political sphere of Assam.”

    "I express my sincere condolences to the bereaved families and pray to God for the veteran politician's eternal peace," he continued. 



    The chief minister further announced that on November 1, Barkataky's last rites will be performed with full state honors.