BJP to contest Bodoland council polls alone, launches campaign push across 40 constituencies

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to contest the upcoming Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) elections without any alliance partners. The decision was finalised at a strategy meeting held on Thursday at the party’s state headquarters in Guwahati. Key party leaders, including Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, and State BJP President Dilip Saikia, were present during the meeting.

Assam BJP Chief Spokesperson Kishore Upadhyay confirmed the party's solo bid, stating that the BJP will fight all 40 council constituencies independently. The elections are expected to take place in September.

To kick off its campaign, the party has scheduled a series of rallies between August 2 and August 20. CM Sarma, Sonowal, and Saikia will tour the region and address gatherings across all council seats.

The BJP’s decision comes amid heightened political focus on development and governance in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR). On July 6, CM Sarma inaugurated a series of initiatives under the Bodoland Happiness Mission at a public event in Guwahati. The programs, led by the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), aim to consolidate peace and promote inclusive growth in the region.

At the event, Sarma unveiled several projects, including the BTR Communication Bridge, a multilingual guidebook covering 18 regional languages, and Transforming Bodoland, a report on the region’s developmental progress. He also released a memoir titled Looking Within: My Reflections by BTC Chief Executive Member Pramod Boro, and presented the council’s annual performance report.

The Chief Minister conferred the Bodoland Lifetime Achievers Award on 18 individuals recognised for preserving and promoting the folk traditions of the Bodo community. Speaking at the event, he emphasised that sustained peace and collaboration among all 26 tribal communities in the region have been key to BTR’s progress over the past five years.

Referring to decades of unrest that plagued the region since 1968, Sarma described the transformation in BTR as a result of collective effort. He called on all stakeholders to maintain the stability and harmony that now defines the area.

With elections on the horizon, the BJP is expected to frame its campaign around governance, cultural preservation, and peace-building, positioning itself as a force for continued development in the once-troubled region.