GUWAHATI, Feb 27 - The Assam State Committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will finalise its strategy for the ensuing elections to the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) on March 1. The party is also concentrating on increasing its base in the Assembly constituencies not held by the BJP and alliance partners.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, state BJP president Ranjeet Kumar Dass admitted that the BJP is not very happy with the move of its alliance partner Bodoland People�s Front that has declared candidates for 15 constituencies of the BTR without consulting the alliance partners.
Even without consulting the alliance partners, the BPF had also announced that the BJP would be given four seats and the AGP would get one. This statement of the BPF leaders also did not go down well with the BJP.
Dass said that the BJP has four lakh members in the BTR area and their sentiments should be respected. He said that the State unit of the BJP has appointed 25 observers to study the ground situation in the area. The observers will submit their report on February 29.
The State BJP president, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, NEDA convener Himanta Biswa Sarma, presidents and general secretaries of the four district committees of the BJP falling under the BTR and the observers will meet on March 1 to finalise the strategy of the party for the BTR elections.
Replying to a question on whether the alliance with the BPF would continue, Dass said that the BJP, AGP and BPF contested the last Lok Sabha and Assembly polls as alliance partners, while, all the parties contested the panchayat polls separately. �We are yet to decide the strategy for the BTR polls and the doors are also open for alliance with the UPPL, which is headed by Promode Boro, who recently resigned from the post of president of the All Bodo Students� Union to join active politics,� he added.
Meanwhile, the State BJP president said that the party is trying its best to strengthen its base in the assembly constituencies which are not held by the BJP and alliance partners. He said that as a part of that drive, series of meetings were held in constituencies like Titabor, Nazira, Mariani, Sivasagar, Doom Dooma etc in the last few days and in the next few days, meetings will be held at Golaghat, Sarupathar, Naoboicha etc. He said that he would also be visiting Barak Valley soon to hold meetings with party workers.
Dass claimed that the movement against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 would not affect the electoral prospects of the BJP. �I can claim that the BJP will not lose a single vote because of the anti-CAA movement,� he asserted.
On implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, Dass said that they were not aware of the recommendations given by the committee formed by the Centre as it were submitted to the Chief Minister in sealed cover. However, he said that the BJP is the only political party which has shown genuine interest in implementing the Clause. He also expressed confidence that the Centre would provide constitutional protection to indigenous people of the State.
