The Bharatiya Janata Party and its ally United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) have followed two main constituents of the Opposition Mahajot, or grand alliance, to engage in a “friendly fight” in the upcoming Assembly elections.
UPPL list of candidates
The UPPL has announced a list of candidates for 11 seats in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR). The seat-sharing agreement in the first week of March had yielded the BTR-specific party eight seats.
The BTR has 12 Assembly seats in four districts – Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar and Udalguri – administered by the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).
On Tuesday, UPPL president and BTC chief Pramod Boro announced the names of eight candidates. He had earlier announced the names of candidates for three other seats.
It has now transpired that the BJP and UPPL will have friendly contests in three of these seats – Bijni, Kalaigaon and Majbat.
The candidates are Phanin Boro, Kamal Azad and Ratendra Daimary respectively.
The BJP has fielded Ajay Kumar Roy from Bijni, Madhu Ram Deka from Kalaigaon and Jitu Kisan from Majbat.
Paneri seat
The only seat in BTR that the UPPL is not contesting is Panery, where the BJP has fielded Rajya Sabha member Biswajit Daimary, an import from the saffron party’s former ally Bodoland People’s Front (BPF).
The UPPL has fielded Urkhao Gwra Brahma, a former MP and Sahitya Academy award winner, from the Chapaguri seat.
The Congress and ally All-India United Democratic Front had earlier named candidates against each other for a “friendly fight” in five constituencies.