Tiwa Autonomous Council: BJP wins 16 seats, leading in many others

The ruling BJP has won 16 seats out of 36 seats of the Tiwa Autonomous Council while its ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) is leading in one constituency in the ongoing counting of ballot papers for the autonomous body on Saturday.

BJP defeated the Congress in most of the seats it won and humbled Independent contestants at three places, according to Assam State Election Commission (ASEC) counting updates.

BJP's Moniram Patar from Gobha constituency has won uncontested, it said. The saffron party nominees are leading in many other segments. Congress as per the report is not leading in any constituency of the Council spread over four districts of Nagaon, Morigaon, Kamrup and Hojai.

Over 71 per cent of the 3,08,409 voters exercised their franchise on December 17 to seal the electoral fate of 124 candidates in the ballot boxes for the 36 constituencies.

The saffron party is performing impressively in back-to- back elections to Bodoland Territorial Council and now in the autonomous body of Tiwa, ahead of the state polls early next year.

In the recently concluded elections for the 40-member Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), the BJP formed the government in alliance with two other local parties. Incumbent Bodoland People's Front (BPF) became the single largest party with 17 seats.

The United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) won 12 and the BJP nine, while the Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) and Congress bagged one seat each. After results were declared, one BPF and the lone Congress member switched sides and joined the BJP, taking the saffron party's tally to 11.

The BJP dumped its state ally BPF and tied up with UPPL and GSP to jointly form the BTC government.