Guwahati: Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) president Hagrama Mohilary is confident that his party will win 30 seats of the 40 and form the BTC (Bodoland Territorial Council) government. While addressing a political rally the BPF chief commented that even though Assam cabinet minister and senior BJP leader Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma has been campaigning against the BPF, not a single seat of the BPF has been harmed.
“Himanta Biswa Sarma does not know anything about BTC. The bullying attitude of Himanta Biswa will not be entertained in the BTC region,” said the BPF chief.
Mohilary also commented that the crowd at the Gossaigaon meetings of BJP was brought from outside the BTC.
Questioning the BJP government, Mohilary said, “Modi government was supposed to give Rs. 1,000 crore to the BTC area, but he gave us only Rs. 600 crore. Where are the remaining Rs. 400 crore?
“When it comes to the BJP rule, Koch Rajbongshi, Adivasis were to be given the ST status in three months. This was the commitment made by PM Modi. This is not the first time that I’ve heard of such a thing. I urge the people not to fall for such sweet talk. The BPF is always ready to provide landholding (Pattas) rights to the people living on annual patta lands”, said the BPF chief.
The BTC polls will be held in two phases on 7 and 10 December. The counting of votes will take place on 12 December. There are 46 seats in the council of which six are nominated by the Assam Governor. The tenure of an elected council is of five years and elections are announced thereafter. This year, the elections were supposed to be held during May, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic it got delayed. The main parties contesting against each other are BPF, UPPL and BJP. The BPF under Hagrama Mohilary has been ruling the BTC since 2005.
