Assam: Top Muslim leader from BJP joins Congress a month ahead of LS polls

Aminul Haque Laskar, a prominent minority leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam, switched his political allegiance to the Congress a month ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. 

Laskar, who became the first minority MLA for the Assam BJP in 2016, resigned from his position on Wednesday. He previously held the position of Deputy Speaker of the Assam Assembly and was appointed as the chairperson of the Assam State Commission for Minorities. However, in 2021, he was defeated by Karim Uddin Barbhuiya of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF). 

Laskar revealed that he chose to resign as he felt the BJP had lost its political ideology in the state. He expressed that the party's current stance was significantly different from what it was during his 13-year association with them.

Congress party in Assam welcomed a new member to its ranks on Wednesday, with the in-charge of the party, Jitendra Singh Alwar, present during the induction. The new recruit, who was previously a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), warned that his departure could impact the ruling party's standing within the minority community. 

He drew parallels between the ideologies of the BJP and Badruddin Ajmal's All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), alleging an increasing similarity. The leader claimed his exit as the only Muslim MLA from the BJP in the region since 2016 could hurt the party's credibility among the Muslim community in Assam, suggesting a covert alliance between the BJP and AIUDF in the state.

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