BJP plays balancing act in Assam's Bodoland polls, ally UPPL worried

Guwahati: With its eyes set on the power in Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), the ruling BJP in Assam is gearing up for a fight against its present ally United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) and a partner in the past, Bodoland People's Front (BPF).

The saffron party, however, seems to be playing a balancing act with the two regional parties for the 40-member BTC polls scheduled on September 22.

The BTC polls are seen as a test of voters' mood in the run up to the Assembly elections slated early next year. BTC is an autonomous council under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who looked confident of forming the council on its own for the first time during the pre-poll meetings in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), has refrained from targeting both UPPL and BPF keeping its options open for a possible post-poll alliance not only in the BTC but also at the state after next year's polls.

"Our target is to win the BTC polls on our own so that we can provide benefits of a triple-engine government to the people. But we have decided not to say anything against the BPF or UPPL. We will also not field our candidates against BPF chief Hagrama Mohilary and UPPL leader Pramod Boro," Sarma said.

The BPF had ruled the BTC since its formation in 2003 until 2020 elections, when it emerged as the single largest party with 17 seats, while the BJP won nine and the UPPL with 12. The BJP and UPPL stitched up a post-poll alliance to form the council.

The BPF was formed mostly by former leaders of the now disbanded militant group, Bodo Liberation Tigers and had signed the Bodoland Accord in 2003 before entering politics.

Similarly, a new Bodoland Accord was signed in December 2020 with all four factions of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU) and others. UPPL chief Pramod Boro is the former head of ABSU.

Assembly polls

Observers in BTR, comprising five districts - Kokrajhar, Baksa, Udalguri, Chirang and Udalguri - say the BJP's balancing act is linked to its target to form the government in the state for the third straight term.

There are 15 Assembly seats (out of total 126), in BTC areas and another 26 outside the council with significant Bodo voters.

With BJP anticipating a tough battle in Assamese-dominated Upper Assam due to fielding of Gaurav Gogoi, Congress MP and son of former CM Tarun Gogoi, the saffron party is also unwilling to disturb the ties with both BPF and UPPL, at least before the polls.

Large crowds in BJP's meetings and CM's bonhomie with the CM ahead of the BTC polls, however, has left UPPL worried.

A senior leader in UPPL fears that BJP could go ahead with the BPF to form the next council, mainly due to issues concerning non-implementation of all the clauses of the new Bodoland Accord signed in 2020. BJP had snapped ties with BPF ahead of Assembly elections in 2021.