Congress Workers Protest Candidate Nominations for Cachar, District President Urges Gaurav Gogoi To Reconsider

Discontent has surfaced within the Indian National Congress in Barak Valley after party workers and aspirants raised objections to the selection of candidates for the Lakhipur and Sonai constituencies. After 9 Mandal Presidents from Sonai resigned from the party, several Congress leaders have also written to District President Sajal Acharjee expressing their dissatisfaction over the party tickets to M Santi Kumar Singha and Aminul Haque Laskar.

District President Sajal Acharjee also wrote to Gaurav Gogoi, urging him to reconsider the decision for the Sonai candidate.

In Lakhipur, several local Congress leaders submitted a written representation to the President of the Cachar District Congress Committee expressing resentment over the party’s decision to nominate M. Shanti Kumar Singha as the candidate for 114 Lakhipur Constituency. In the letter dated March 4, 2026, the signatories alleged that the nomination was declared without properly considering the population pattern and the recommendations of the Block Congress Committees of Lakhipur, Binnakandi and Rajabazar.

The leaders stated that suggestions from block-level and mandal committees were reportedly ignored during the candidate selection process. They also expressed shock that the opinions of grassroots workers were not given due weight in the final decision.

The letter urged the party leadership to reconsider the ticket by taking into account the views of local workers and other selection criteria. The signatories warned that if the decision is not revised, they may remain “silent” during the upcoming election campaign.

The representation further claimed that Singha is not a local of the constituency and belongs to the Meitei community. The leaders alleged that this may affect the party’s chances, as tribal voters could shift away from the Congress. They also claimed that the number of Meitei voters in the constituency is relatively small and alleged that there are cases and adverse records against the candidate.

Meanwhile, dissatisfaction has also emerged in 119 Sonai LAC over the selection of Aminul Haque Laskar as the Congress candidate. In a separate letter dated March 5, 2026, Cachar District Congress Committee President Sajal Acharjee informed APCC President Gaurav Gogoi that a meeting of aspirant candidates was held at Indira Bhawan in Silchar earlier in the day.

According to the letter, almost all aspirants who were seeking a ticket attended the meeting and collectively expressed deep dissatisfaction with the candidate selection. They reportedly refused to accept Aminul Haque Laskar as the party’s nominee and submitted a written representation outlining their grievances.
After hearing their views, Acharjee stated in the letter that the present decision may be reconsidered in the larger interest of the party to safeguard the seat from a possible electoral setback.

It is worth mentioning here that Aminul Haque Laskar began his political career with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and contested the 2001 and 2006 Assam Assembly elections from the Sonai constituency, though he was unsuccessful in both attempts. Later, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) around 2011 and gradually rose within the party’s ranks in Barak Valley. In the 2016 Assam Assembly election, he won the Sonai seat on a BJP ticket, defeating Congress candidate Anamul Haque Laskar and becoming the lone Muslim MLA from the BJP in Assam. During the BJP-led government, he also served as the Deputy Speaker of the Assam Legislative Assembly. Back in 2024, he again quit the BJP to join Congress.

The development comes amid growing internal churn within the Congress in Barak Valley ahead of the elections, with multiple leaders and party workers raising concerns over ticket distribution and party office bearers resigning from their positions.