New Assam twist? Single largest party BPF stakes claim to form Bodoland Territorial Council

GUWAHATI: The Bodoland Peoples' Front (BPF), which emerged as the single largest party with 17 seats in the just concluded Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) polls, on Monday staked claim to form the new Council even as the stage is set for swearing-in of five members of the BJP- UPPL-GSP coalition on December 15.

BPF President Hagrama Mohilary in a letter to Assam Governor Jagadish Mukhi requested that his party has emerged as the single largest party in the 40-member council and as such should be given the first opportunity to prove majority in the autonomous body.

He also requested the Governor to give them a period of seven days for following the necessary procedures to prove majority with the support of other allies.

Raj Bhavan sources here, however, are yet to comment on the BPF's claim.

Established in 2003, the BTC is an autonomous self- governing body under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, a special provision that allows for greater political autonomy and decentralised governance in certain tribal areas of the Northeast.

The BTC covers four districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri which falls under the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR).

The BPF, an alliance partner of the BJP in the ruling coalition state government, has been dumped by the saffron party which went on to join hands with the United Peoples' Party Liberal (UPPL) and Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) to constitute the council as a coalition.

The BJP-UPPL-GSP combine had staked its claim on Sunday with the Governor accepting their claim and directed that they be sworn in on December 15.

A five member team, led by UPPL's Promode Bodo, comprising two each from the BJP and UPPL and one from the GSP is scheduled to be sworn in at Kokrajhar on Tuesday.

Mohilary on Sunday had appealed to BJP, its ruling alliance partner in the Assam government, to extend its support in forming the council, as the results had led to a hung House.

He said that in 2016, they had entered into an alliance with the BJP and had formed a government in the state and was also a part of the NDA while both the parties have not broken the pact yet.

He had appealed to BJP President J P Nadda and state unit President Ranjit Dass to continue with the alliance and extend their support to BPF.

The BPF and the BJP had contested the council polls separately with the former emerging as the single largest party with 17 seats and its ruling partner winning nine seats.

The United Peoples' Party Liberal (UPPL) won 12 seats, and the BJP nine while the Congress and the Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) won one each.

Meanwhile, the sole Congress member Sajal Sinha announced on Monday that he would join the BJP and be a part of the ruling coalition in the new council.