Elections to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) are likely to be held in September. Political parties have started gearing up for the polls, and campaigning has picked up across the 40 constituencies of the BTC. While the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL), led by incumbent BTC chief Pramod Boro, and the opposition Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) of Hagrama Mohilary are the main contenders, the BJP has also set its sights on emerging as a major force in the Council this time.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is spearheading the saffron party’s campaign for the BTC polls and has already addressed a few public rallies across the region. The BPF has also announced its first list of candidates, even though the Assam State Election Commission (ASEC) is yet to formally announce the poll schedule.
Likewise, the UPPL has also ramped up its campaign, although Pramod Boro has declared that his party will wait for some more time before declaring its nominees.
The last BTC polls in 2020 witnessed a change of regime as the BPF was ousted from power and the UPPL formed the government in the BTR after securing support from the BJP and the Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) of former Lok Sabha member Naba Kumar Sarania. This happened despite the fact that the BPF had emerged as the single largest party by securing 17 seats.
The UPPL, with 12 seats, assumed power by joining hands with the BJP (nine seats) and the GSP (one seat).
Interestingly, while the UPPL is a constituent of the BJP-led NDA and part of the State government in Dispur, the BPF, which is the principal opposition party in the BTC, is extending support to the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led bloc in the Assam Assembly.
However, the major players seem to have forsaken the idea of entering into any formal alliance or seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming BTC polls. The BJP has said that it will contest the polls on its own, and the same has been the position of the UPPL so far. The BPF is in talks with the GSP, which is no longer with the UPPL, but otherwise, the Mohilary-led party has already announced candidates for more than half of the seats. The Congress and other parties are marginal players in the BTR.
The All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU), an influential non-political force in the BTR, has urged the UPPL and the BPF to join hands. However, both Boro and Mohilary seem reluctant to take the first step in that direction. It will be worth watching what position the ABSU takes in the coming weeks and whether the student outfit ultimately endorses any of the parties for the BTC polls. With the picture still hazy, a lot could happen in the run-up to the elections.