New Delhi: The Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), which re-joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) last October, has won one and is leading nine of the 11 seats it is contesting as part of a seat-sharing arrangement with the BJP in Assam’s assembly polls, as of 2.30 pm Monday.
Its ally, the BJP, which contested the remaining four of the Bodoland Territorial Region’s (BTR) 15 assembly seats, was leading in 79 seats in the autonomous district region.
In the key seat of Gossaigaon, the BPF’s Sabharam Basumatary was leading by 10,600+ votes, while in Dotma, the party’s Rabiram Narzary was leading/trailing by a whopping 21,400+ votes. In Kokrajhar, an ST seat, the party fielded Sewli Mohilary, who was leading by 15,600+ votes.
The BPF is one of the two major political players in Assam’s Bodoland. The other significant player is the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL). The BPF is led by Hagrama Mohilary, who is also the current chief executive member of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). The UPPL is led by former All Bodo Students’ Union president Pramod Boro.
The BPF and BJP have repeatedly formed and broken alliances over control of the BTR and assembly elections. The rise of the UPPL in 2015 has also strained their relationship in the region that witnessed long spells of armed insurgency and riots fuelled by a demand for a separate state. Several peace accords were signed over time, with the latest in 2020 leading to an end to the armed movement.
After being part of the BJP cabinet under the then Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, the situation shifted in 2020 when the BJP ended its alliance with the BPF and decided to form the Bodoland Territorial Council government with the UPPL instead.
The UPPL and BJP formed an alliance after the 2020 Bodoland Territorial Council elections, but then chose to contest last year’s Bodoland Territorial Council elections independently.
After the BPF won the Bodoland Territorial Council election last September, Chief Minister Himanta Sarma brought the BPF back into the NDA, leaving the UPPL out in the cold.
The Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) is an autonomous administrative area spread across five districts of Kokrajhar, Baksa, Chirang, Udalguri and Tamulpur. It has 15 assembly constituencies.
However, apart from these 15 seats under BTR, voters of the Bodo community also play a decisive role in determining the outcome of polls in at least 10 more seats.
The Bodo community accounts for approximately 6 percent of Assam’s population, making it one of the largest tribal groups in the state.
In 2020, Himanta Biswa Sarma, then part of the BJP-led Assam cabinet, had forged an alliance between the BJP and the UPPL to dislodge the BPF from power in the Bodoland Territorial Council.
Five years later, last September, the BPF emerged victorious in the Bodoland Territorial Council. This victory led the BJP to extend an olive branch to the BPF and include it in its alliance for the 2026 assembly polls.
The BPF was part of the Congress-led ‘Mahajot (grand alliance) in 2021, but given the changing political scenario, Sarma made it a point to bring it into the NDA’s fold.
The BJP did not spare any seats for the UPPL, choosing to contest four seats and leaving 11 for the BPF.
The UPPL, which fought the 2021 assembly polls in an alliance with the BJP and won six seats, is now contesting 17 seats independently.
Boro, who served as the former chief executive member of the council earlier, decided to contest all 15 seats independently apart from two other seats in the state.
The Bodoland Territorial Council was established following the signing of the 2003 Bodo Accord between the Mohilary-led insurgent outfit Bodo Liberation Tigers Force, the Centre and the Assam government.
The BTR comes under the jurisdiction of the Council and over 19 non-Bodo communities—including the Assamese, Koch-Rajbongshis and Bengali-speaking Muslims—make up nearly 65 percent of the BTR population.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
Also Read: Himanta leading by a mammoth 17,000+ votes in Jalukbari as BJP set for Assam sweep