Assam: Former Sonai MLA Aminul Haque Laskar quits BJP

Silchar, Mar 20: In what could be called a very interesting development ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Aminul Haque Laskar, the former BJP MLA and ex-Deputy Speaker of the Assam Legislative Assembly, has resigned from the BJP's primary membership.

The MLA informed the media on Tuesday that he had opted to come out of the BJP, alleging that the party has lost its political ideology.

It may be mentioned that Laskar, who was the solitary minority MLA in the ex-Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal-led Assam government in 2016, was appointed as the Deputy Speaker of the State Assembly in 2020. However, he lost to AIUDF candidate Karim Uddin Barbhuiya in the 2021 Assam legislative assembly elections.

Further speaking his mind before the media, Laskar, who is currently the chairperson of the Assam State Commission for Minorities, said, "Back in 2011, when we joined the BJP, it had a certain ideology, but today it is playing communal cards much like the AIUDF. Today we see legislators from the AIUDF campaign for the BJP's Silchar Lok Sabha seat candidate, which is unacceptable."

Asked why he chose to join Congress over his former party, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), Laskar said that both the BJP and AGP are two sides of the same coin and people of Sonai area want him to stay away from such parties. He assured that he would continue to work for the development of the people in his constituency.

It has been learned that Laskar will be joining the Congress party in the presence of APCC president Bhupen Borah in Guwahati on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, there is no official response as yet made by the BJP to Laskar's resignation.