Sonai Congress Protest: Effigies Burnt Over Aminul Haque Laskar’s Candidature

Protests erupted in Sonai on Saturday as disgruntled Congress workers and supporters burnt effigies of several senior party leaders over the choice of candidate for the constituency.

A group of protesters gathered at Sonai Bazar and publicly burnt effigies of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Gaurav Gogoi, Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia and MP Rakibul Hussain. The demonstrators raised slogans against the party leadership and expressed strong resentment over the nomination of former MLA Aminul Haque Laskar as the party’s candidate from Sonai.

After setting the effigies on fire, several protesters were seen chanting slogans such as “Priyanka Gandhi murdabad”. Some participants were also seen hitting the burning effigies with sticks while continuing their protest.

Members addressing the media said some of them had recently resigned from the party and were deeply upset with the party’s conduct and decision regarding the candidate selection. They said the effigies were burnt as a mark of protest against the leadership.

According to the protesters, senior leaders such as Priyanka Gandhi and Gaurav Gogoi had earlier assured that party tickets would be given to loyal members who had worked consistently for the organisation. They claimed that party leaders had spoken about evaluating the work done over the last five years before deciding on candidates.

However, the protesters alleged that the ticket was ultimately given in exchange for money. They claimed that a party worker who had served the Congress for nearly 30 years had submitted his nomination but was rejected, while the ticket was given to Aminul Haque Laskar who had joined the Congress from the BJP not long ago.

They also alleged that Laskar joined the Congress to attract minority votes but had previously made statements that were against the interests of minority communities.

Anger within the Sonai unit has been building for the past few days. Earlier, nine mandal presidents from Sonai resigned from the party expressing dissatisfaction over the candidate selection. In addition, nine other leaders who were aspiring for the ticket also raised objections with the party leadership.

Many local Congress workers have said they are unwilling to accept the nomination of Aminul Haque Laskar. The protesters warned that they would not accept his candidature under any circumstances and declared that they would make Sonai free of Congress.

The ongoing internal conflict within the Congress party could affect its prospects in the upcoming elections. The protest in Sonai came a day after Youth Congress members in Udharbond also staged a demonstration against the party’s candidate selection. On Friday, Youth Congress members burnt the effigy of Ajit Singh and demanded that the party reconsider its choice and field a fresh face from the constituency.

With protests emerging from multiple constituencies, the Congress is currently witnessing growing internal conflict in several parts of Cachar district.