Representative image | Photo credit: PTI
Guwahati: On Sunday, the BJP practically abandoned one of its coalition partners in Assam, the BPF, and chose a new ally to win the majority and govern the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), an autonomous body in dominated areas of the state. by Bodo. .
The Bodoland Popular Front (BPF), which has three ministers in the Sarbananda Sonowal-led coalition government in the state, has become the largest party in BTC’s recently concluded polls, winning 17 seats in the 40 body. members.
BPF president Hagrama Mohilary said his party repeatedly appealed to the BJP to follow the “coalition” rules and help it form a “government” in the BTC, but the BJP ignored the pleas.
The People’s United Liberal Party (UPPL) has won 12 seats, the BJP nine, while Congress and the Gana Suraksha Party (GSP), led by Lok Sabha MP Naba Sarania, each won one.
Shortly after BJP leader and Union Interior Minister Amit Shah congratulated the UPPL for winning 12 seats and also called the party an “ally” in his tweet, Chief Minister Sarbanada Sonowal announced that the president of UPPL, Pramod Boro, will be the new Chief Executive Member (CEM) at BTC.
While the BPF and UPPL are seen as rivals in the Bodo-dominated areas, there was also no pre-election alliance between other parties.
“Since we are part of the state government in Dispur, I appeal to the BJP to help the BPF to form the government in the BTC.
We have not broken the alliance with the BJP and it should follow the coalition, “said Mohilary, who had been the CEM for the past 17 years, at a press conference in Kokrajhar, the headquarters of the BTC.
However, the BJP ignored the reasons.
Soon, the Union Interior Minister tweeted, “NDA secured a comfortable majority in the Assam BTC election. Congratulations to our UPPL ally, CM @sarbanandsonwal, @himantabiswa, @RanjeetkrDass and @ BJP4Assam unit.”
“I thank the people of Assam for their continued faith in PM @ narendramodi’s determination towards a developed northeast,” Shah said.
Later in a press conference, Sonowal announced that BJP, UPPL and GSP have teamed up for the BTC and that the head of the UPPL, Pramod Boro, will be the new CEM.
The BJP and BPF, along with the AGP, fought together in the 2016 assembly elections in which BPF won 12 seats, winning everything it has contested. Three of its MLA remain ministers in the Sonowal government.
Biswajit Daimari, BPF’s sole member Rajya Sabha, before formally joining the BJP last month, had been supporting the Narendra Modi government on different occasions in the upper house.
However, Daimari joined the BJP last month.
This is the second time the BJP has severed its ties with a coalition partner in recent times. In 2018, the Saffron Party disrupted the Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir.
Shiv Sena and Akali Dal themselves have left the NDA in the last year.
