Rahul Gandhi arrives in Guwahati to pay tribute to Zubeen Garg

Leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, arrived here on Friday to pay tribute to singer Zubeen Garg, who died in Singapore last month.

He was received by Assam Pradesh Congress president Gaurav Gogoi and other senior state leaders of the party at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport here.

Gandhi will go straight to Garg's resting place at Sonapur, on the outskirts of Guwahati, to offer his respects to him, a Congress leader said.

He will also visit the singer's residence to convey his condolences to the bereaved family members before leaving for New Delhi, he said.

Garg, 52, died in Singapore while swimming in the sea on September 19. He was cremated with state honours on September 23 near Guwahati. The Assam government formed an SIT that is investigating the circumstances that led to his death.

Gogoi had on Thursday visited the site, where Garg was cremated, to review the arrangements for Gandhi's visit.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had on Thursday said that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's visit to pay tribute to cultural icon Zubeen Garg would be after 28 days of his death, but it is still ''better late than never''.

''We had expected a senior Congress leader like Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi or someone else to be present at the singer's cremation,'' the chief minister had said at a press conference here.

As Gandhi is coming to pay his tribute to the singer, ''we welcome his visit to the state'', Sarma added.