GUWAHATI: With polls round the corner in Assam and the Bodo region expected to play a key role in deciding BJP’s fate, Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said that the third Bodo Accord signed under the aegis of the Centre in January, 2020 will be the agreement to be implemented the fastest in the country in recent times.
Speaking at the 53rd Annual Conference of All Bodo Students’ Union (Absu) in northern Assam’s Gohpur on Sunday, Himanta said the commission headed by retired IAS officer PP Verma, which was constituted for demarcating the new boundaries of the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), is expected to submit its report by August 15.
Many more Bodo-inhabited areas in the autonomous region will be included in the BTR after the boundaries are extended, he said. He also admitted that a few villages have appealed to exclude them from the BTR.
“Despite the pandemic situation, we have made significant progress to implement several clauses of the peace deal (Bodo Accord). Especially with the efforts of Absu, the boundary commission to give a new shape to the BTR has been formulated under the Accord. The commission headed by PP Verma is going ahead in the right direction to demarcate the BTR boundary. We are expecting the committee’s report will be submitted before the state government ahead of August 15,” said Himanta.
With Bodos from across vast areas in northern Assam, especially Sonitpur and Biswanath districts, demanding their inclusion in BTR, the minister hinted that several new pockets from the two districts may get included in the sixth schedule-administered region.
“People from Gohpur, Biswanath Chariali and from various other areas have been able to put forth their pleas before the boundary commission, reflecting their wishes. The Bodo-inhabited areas around the BTR, who could not be included in the region, have been able to place their requests for incorporation in the autonomous region for the first time,” Himanta added. The forest villagers in undivided Sonitpur districts will get their due rights and they will get village panchayats for local self-governance, he said.
Sarma said that for the rest of the scattered population of the Bodo community, the interim council of the Bodo Kachari Autonomous Council will be constituted for Bodos living outside BTR by February 15.
This council, Himanta said, will represent the wishes of the Bodos living in Karbi Anglong, Dhemaji, Golaghat and other districts which could not be covered by the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).
As the BJP may face a stiff challenge in at least 20 minority-dominated seats in lower Assam, the saffron party is targeting to bag all the 12 assembly seats in the BTR, party insiders said. It also hopes to win two other seats where Bodo voters play an influential role in the assembly polls.
Political equations have changed in the BTR after BJP decided to replace its state-level ally Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) with former Absu president Pramod Boro led-United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) in the BTC polls.