Former Assam minister Nazrul Islam dies at 73

Former Assam minister and senior Congress leader Nazrul Islam died at a hospital in Guwahati on Saturday following a prolonged illness.

He was 73, and is survived by his wife, son and daughter.

The three-time minister and five-term legislator was admitted to the hospital on Friday after his oxygen level dropped alarmingly and he breathed his last in the afternoon, sources at the medical establishment said.

He was a minister for three terms from 2002 to 2016 in the cabinet of former chief minister, late Tarun Gogoi.

Islam represented Laharighat assembly constituency in Morigaon district for five terms from 1996, while his son Dr Asif Mohammed Nazar won the seat on the Congress ticket in 2021.

He was a physician before joining politics and had completed his MBBS from Gauhati Medical College and Hospital.

Islam held the food and civil supplies, minority affairs and health portfolios in the Gogoi cabinet.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, condoling the death of the former minister, said the experienced politician had for long extended valuable services to the social and political field in the state.

"I pray for the departed soul and extend my deepest condolences to the bereaved family members," Sarma added.

State Congress chief Bhupen Bora, in his condolence message, said the grand old party has lost a dedicated and sincere leader.

"Islam began his professional life as a doctor but went on to serve the society as a politician and we are deeply pained at his death. We extend our deepest condolences to the bereaved family," Bora added.