UPPL, AGP announce candidates for Bodoland Territorial Council polls

Two key NDA allies in Assam — the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) — on Sunday released their lists of candidates for the upcoming elections to the 40-member Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), scheduled for September 22.

The UPPL, which had earlier announced 18 candidates, declared names for 16 more constituencies. Party chief and incumbent BTC chief Pramod Boro has been fielded from Goibari, while his deputy Gobinda Basumatary will contest from Bhairabkunda. Former BTC deputy chief Kampa Borgoyari also features in the second list of nominees.

The AGP named candidates in four constituencies. Bistu Ram Narzary will contest from Baukhugri (ST reserved), Manmohan Das from Mathanguri, Bipradip Talukdar from Srirampur and Parthajit Ray from Thuribari.

The BJP, the main partner in the ruling NDA coalition, is expected to announce its list later on Sunday. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had toured the BTC region extensively in recent weeks and indicated that the party will field candidates in most constituencies. The NDA allies have decided to contest the polls separately.

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In the 2020 BTC polls, the UPPL had won 12 seats, the BJP secured nine and the then ally Gana Suraksha Party managed one. The Bodoland People’s Party (BPF), which was in power before 2020, emerged as the single-largest party with 17 seats. The Congress, which had won one seat, saw its member later join the BJP.

The election process for the council is already underway. The last date for filing nominations is September 2, followed by scrutiny on September 4. Candidates will be allowed to withdraw till September 6. If repolling is required, it will take place on September 24. Counting of votes will be held on September 26.

As per the Election Commission’s data, a total of 26,57,937 voters, including 13,34,521 women and 17 third-gender electors, are eligible to exercise their franchise across 3,359 polling stations in the districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, Tamulpur and Udalguri.