GUWAHATI, Nov 28 - With relations between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bodoland People�s Front (BPF) hitting rock bottom over the elections to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), the BPF has dared the BJP to break the alliance and drop its three ministers from the State Council of Ministers.
The BJP and BPF are contesting the BTC elections separately and leaders of both the parties are strongly criticising each other during the poll campaigns. However, the alliance in the State level is still officially on and three members of the BPF are functioning as ministers in the Council of Ministers.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, BPF general secretary Prabin Boro said that if the BPF is a corrupt party as claimed by several senior BJP leaders at the BTC election campaigns, then the national party should break the alliance in the State level and drop the BPF members from the ministry. �The BPF ministers can come out of the ministry by breaking the alliance. But we are waiting for the BJP to take the step of dropping the ministers so that we can show all regional parties how the saffron party uses and throws out the smaller parties according to its convenience,� he added.
Boro further said that the BJP is not only attacking the BPF, but also took away two senior members � Rajya Sabha member Biswajit Daimary and Emmanuel Mushahary. With this action the BJP would however not be able to weaken the BPF, he said.
Boro said the decision to tie up with the BJP was taken before the 2016 State Assembly polls in the presence of the saffron party�s central leaders including the then president Amit Shah.
But interestingly, the central leaders of the party are now quiet about the alliance. Though a few senior State leaders of the BJP including a minister are making scathing comments against the BPF at the BTC election rallies, even the Chief Minister is keeping quiet on the issue of alliance. It seems that the BJP is planning to keep its options open and wait for declaration of the results of the BTC elections before making the next move on the alliance, he added.
The BPF general secretary admitted that the future of the alliance is uncertain as most of the BPF members are against continuing with the same because of the attitude shown by some senior BJP leaders. �We are yet to finalise our strategies for the 2021 Assembly elections. The party will meet to discuss its future strategy only after declaration of the BTC election results,� he added.
Commenting on prospects of the BPF in the ensuing BTC polls, Boro claimed that the party would be able to come to power in the council on its own.
