Alliance with the BPF not to be renewed in 2021, says Himanta Biswa Sarma

DISPUR: Assam Minister and BJP's point-man in the Northeast Himanta Biswa Sarma today declared that the alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bodoland People's Front (BPF) will official come to an end next year as Assam heads to the polling booths once again.

"We had forged an alliance with the BPF for 5 years. At the end of 5 years, the alliance will not be renewed. The BJP party will contest the polls in the BTC region next next year," Sarma said, going on to clarify that this "will not be discussed in New Delhi."

Responding to a query on alliance with the United People's Party Liberal (UPPL), Sarma said, "We are not taking cognizance of the UPPL as a political party. Our main contest will be with the BPF. In each of the 27 Constituencies where we have fielded candidates, the BPF candidate will be the main threat," Sarma said.

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Addressing COVID-19 concerns ahead of the polls, Sarma stated that a spike in the number of cases after the elections is "very unlikely" and hailed Assam's fight against the pathogen as a "success story."

It needs mention here that the Election Commission of Assam on Tuesday declared the dates of the upcoming polls in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) which were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alok Kumar, the State Election Commissioner of Assam, today announced that the BTC election shall be held in two phases — on December 7 and 10.

In the first phase of polls, residents of Udalguri and Baksa districts will head to the polling booths. The casting of votes shall take place between 7:30 am in the morning till 4:30 pm in the afternoon. Re-polling, if any, shall take place on December 12, stated the Election Commissioner.

Residents of Kokrajhar and Chirang districts shall exercise their franchise on December 12, 2020, from 7:30 am in the morning till 4:30 pm in the afternoon.

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