BTC polls: BPF eyes majority, rules out alliance with BJP or Congress

Guwahati, July 23:  Dismissing the likelihood of joining hands with either the BJP or the Congress in the forthcoming elections to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) is exuding confidence of securing a majority on its own and forming the next government in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR).

In an interaction with The Assam Tribune, senior BPF leader and MLA Durga Das Boro asserted that the Hagrama Mohilary-led party has managed to expand its support base among voters belonging to all the ethnic and religious communities in the BTR.

“Being a party mainly based in the Bodoland area, the BTC polls are of prime importance to us. Our preparations for the elections are going on in full swing. In fact, we started preparing for the upcoming polls from the day the results of the previous BTC elections were announced, and the party is leaving no stone unturned to put up an impressive performance,” Boro said.

He added that the BPF is confident of returning to power in the 40-seat BTC after spending the last five years as the principal Opposition party in the Council.

“You must take into account the reality that the BPF did not lose the last elections. In fact, we had emerged as the single-largest party in the 2020 BTC polls. But the BPF was deprived from forming the local government in the region due to some machinations. Since then we have been constantly focusing on further strengthening our organisational base across the region. Our party is now very well organised and we are hopeful of securing a majority in the elections this time. The BPF always had a good presence among all the communities and ethnic groups of the region, and in recent times our popularity has further increased,” Boro said.

He informed that the BPF is in talks with the Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) of former Kokrajhar MP Naba Kumar Sarania for a formal seat-sharing arrangement in the BTC elections, but some details still need to be worked out.

Boro, however, categorically stated that the BPF is not going to have an understanding with any other party, including the BJP or the Congress.

It is noteworthy that the BPF, which has three legislators including Boro himself, has been extending support to the BJP-led NDA in the Assam Legislative Assembly. BPF’s primary rival, the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL), is a constituent of the NDA.

The senior BPF leader also claimed that the incumbent administration in the BTC, led by the UPPL, is facing massive anti-incumbency.

“The UPPL-led Council has been a total failure in fulfilling the aspirations of the common people. Inaugurating a few community halls cannot be termed a barometer of success in administration. Their performance has been absolutely unimpressive. It is 100 per cent certain that the UPPL is going to lose this time. Anyway, the UPPL itself had won only 11 seats in the 2020 polls. Even after five years as the ruling party, they have failed to grow and till today the UPPL hardly has a sizeable base in most of the BTC constituencies,” Boro added.

He also alleged that several provisions of the BTR peace agreement of 2020 remain unimplemented.

“The BTR exists only in words. In practice, it is the BTAD which continues. The powers of the Council have been diluted. Let me cite one example. Making appointments for Grade-C and Grade-D posts is the jurisdiction of the BTC. However, when 26,000 Grade-C and Grade-D posts were filled by the State government, the vacancies in the BTC were also included. The BTC had no role to play in it. Therefore, many local youths were deprived even though there is so much unemployment in the Bodoland region. The number of seats in the BTC should have increased to 60 as per the accord, but the figure remains 40,” Boro said.

By

Pranjal Bhuyan