Regional rivals urged to unite ahead of Bodoland polls in Assam

The bid of the Bharatiya Janata Party to be the dominant political entity in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) may bring two rival regional parties together ahead of the elections to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), expected to be held in September.

The BTC governs the BTR comprising five districts across western and north-central Assam. The Bodos are the largest ethnic group in the BTR.

Leaders of the influential All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU) and other Bodo organisations have urged the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) and the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) to contest the upcoming polls together. The UPPL is the current ally of the BJP, and the BPF is a former ally.

The other organisations include the Bodo Sahitya Sabha and forums of former members of two disbanded extremist groups, Bodoland Liberation Tigers and National Democratic Front of Bodoland.

ABSU president Dipen Boro said the organisations have proposed unification to UPPL president Pramod Boro and his BPF counterpart Hagrama Mohilary. Pramod Boro is the head of the BTC, which the UPPL rules in alliance with the BJP.

“We sent a letter on the unification issue to both the leaders on August 5. We expect a positive response by August 12,” he said, adding that the people of BTR want the rivalry between the two parties to end as they do not want the region to relapse into the kind of violence it witnessed earlier.

Pramod Boro said his party would consider the proposal, but pointed out that a united political front cannot be one-sided. “We do not believe in the politics of division as unity in diversity is the essence of India, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasises through his ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’ call,” he said.

“We have no problem in contesting the council polls together. We have given a written reply to the organisations. It is now the turn of the UPPL chief to do so,” Mr Mohilary said.

‘Welcome proposa’

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma welcomed the proposal for unity between the UPPL and BPF. However, the BJP is believed to have made the two BTR-specific parties jittery by indicating it would contest all 40 seats in the BTC after months of keeping its option of a pre-poll alliance with either the UPPL and the BPF open.

The BJP is keen on controlling the BTC after years of wielding power in two other tribal councils formed under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India – Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council and North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council.

In the last BTC polls held in December 2020, the BPF emerged as the single-largest party with 17 seats, followed by the UPPL with 12, and the BJP with nine. Congress and the Gana Suraksha Party won one seat each.

Defections from the BPF and Congress resulted in the UPPL and BJP gaining seats, increasing their counts to 15 and 14, respectively.

Meanwhile, the BTC polls appear to have driven a wedge between the BJP and its other regional ally, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP).

Addressing an event of the Kokrajhar district BJP unit a few days ago, the Chief Minister said his party was neither against the UPPL nor the BPF. “However, lotus will bloom in the BTC,” he said, while claiming the BJP was primarily instrumental in ensuring lasting peace in the BTR.

He also had a word of advice for the AGP, which decided to go solo in the BTC polls. “The AGP should contest if it thinks it can win seats in the BTC. The party should not fight to defeat the BJP,” he said.

Phani Bhushan Choudhury, the AGP’s Lok Sabha member, was quick to clarify that his party’s decision to contest the BTC independently was the outcome of an agreement among the alliance partners. “Our decision is not aimed at undermining our allies,” he said.