GUWAHATI: Battle lines have been drawn for the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) elections in Assam seen as a precursor to next year’s assembly election in the northeastern state.
The polls are expected to see a keen contest between the ruling United Peoples Party Liberal (UPPL) and Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF), which was in power earlier.
Elections for the 40-member BTC, which controls administration in five districts, will take place on September 22. Nearly 2.6 million voters are eligible to vote for the BTC polls. The votes will be counted on September 26.
The UPPL and BPF have announced candidates for all 40 seats.
The UPPL is part of the ruling alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the state level – the BJP and the Asom Gana Parishad are the other two constituents. But the three parties are separately contesting the council elections.
The BJP has named candidates on 28 seats and the AGP on four seats.
The Congress has also named 40 candidates.
On Monday, prominent candidates including present chief executive member (CEM) of BTC from UPPL, Pramod Boro and his predecessor BPF’s Hagrama Mohilary filed their nominations.
While Boro is contesting from two seats – Goibari and Dotoma – his staunch rival Mohilary is also fighting from two seats; Debargaon (where he would be pitted against UPPL’s deputy CEM Kampa Borgoyari) and Chirang Duar.
{{/usCountry}}While Boro is contesting from two seats – Goibari and Dotoma – his staunch rival Mohilary is also fighting from two seats; Debargaon (where he would be pitted against UPPL’s deputy CEM Kampa Borgoyari) and Chirang Duar.
{{/usCountry}}“Joined my fellow UPPL candidates at the grand Nomination Filing Ceremony in Tamulpur district today. There’s widespread support for the UPPL Model of Politics across BTR, and with the People’s blessings and the hard work of our workers, we will emerge victorious in the BTR Elections 2025,” Boro said in a post on X after filing nominations.
BPF’s Mohilary told reporters that he was confident of returning to power after five years. “This will be a good election for BPF as people are coming out in large numbers to support us and with their blessings we will form the next government in BTC again,” he said.
The BJP is facing some resistance over its choice of candidates in Koklabari and Baganpara.
In Koklabari, the party has given ticket to Ramen Madahi, who was shot by police in an encounter in November 2023 in connection with a land grabbing case. In Baganpara, some BJP workers have opposed the candidature of Rekha Rani Das Boro and have threatened to put up a rebel candidate.
In the last BTC elections, BPF secured 17 seats and emerged as the single largest party, missing the majority mark by just four seats. But UPPL, which got 12 seats and BJP, which bagged 9, were able to form the government with support from one Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) winner, taking their combined tally to 22.