Chandi Basumatary & Deben Boro, former BLT cadres turned political rivals, shake hands at polling station

TAMULPUR: With round one of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) officially underway, two former friends turned political rivals ran into each other at the polling booth today.

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Deben Boro of the BJP party and Chandi Basumatary of the Bodoland People's Front (BPF) today ran into each other at the booth in the Tamulpur Higher Secondary school. It is no secret that the relationship between the BJP and the BPF, at this point in time, has hit a rocky patch. The two parties, although allied at Dispur, have left no stone unturned to dent the other's reputation at the BTC, which is being seen as a sort of "semifinal" ahead of the Assam Assembly elections next year. The BJP has also announced that it will terminate its alliance with the BPF party ahead of the polls next year.

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However, the parties' animosity seemed not to affect Basumatary and Boro, who flashed each other smiles, shook hands, and stood side-by-side in the queue.

While the Deben Boro is contesting from the no. 26 Darangjuli Constituency, Basumatary is contesting from the no. 28 Goybari Constituency, where he will be challenged by United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) Chief Promod Boro.

Once, the duo took part in the armed struggle for a separate state Bodoland and were cadres of the BLT (also known as the Bodo Liberation Tiger Force or BLTF), which later laid down arms to sign a peace treaty that led to the creation of the present-day Council.

It is generally believed that Deben Boro left the BPF because he was removed as EM by the party and did not get party tickets to contest in the polls from the Goybari Contituency, from where he had won the election twice. Boro's subsequent departure from the party led to further rifts in the party -- with prominent leaders Emmanuel Mosahary and Biswajit Daimary also leaving the party and joining the BJP on November 22.

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