GUWAHATI: Amidst a court case, 24 elected members of Assam’s autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) have been taken to the Meghalaya capital Shillong.
They include nine from the BJP, 12 from the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) and one each from Gana Suraksha Party (GSP), Congress and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF). They have reportedly been lodged at the Assam Bhavan in Shillong.
UPPL president and the new BTC chief Pramod Bodo made light of it stating that all of them would return to Assam after a couple of days. The general perception is that the BJP is trying to keep them away to thwart possible horse-trading by the BPF. The BPF ruled the BTC for 17 years ever since its creation in 2003 as a political solution to the Bodo agitation for a separate state.
The development comes days after former BTC chief, Hagrama Mohilary, who is also the BPF president, and some of his party colleagues had filed a writ petition in the Gauhati High Court challenging the constitutional validity of the appointment of council’s Chief Executive Member and others on Tuesday.
The petitioners alleged violation of rules under Election Rules, 2004. They contended that since the BPF had emerged as the single largest party by winning 17 of the BTC’s 40 seats, it should have been invited by the governor to prove majority. The court will hear the case on Tuesday.
The new council was formed by the BJP-UPPL-GSP combine. They have 22 members. The lone elected member from the Congress and another from the BPF defected to the BJP later.