GUWAHATI: Peace is the buzzword as Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) gets set for the September 22 elections to the autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).
Addressing election rallies at two places about 100 km apart on Thursday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of the BJP and BTC Chief Executive Member Pramod Boro of the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) played the peace card to warm up to voters.
In his speech at Hajoowa, falling under the BTC’s Koklabari constituency under Baksa district, Sarma highlighted the BJP’s efforts in restoring peace in Bodoland that was once ravaged by the scourge of insurgency.
“Bodoland has remained peaceful. We haven’t witnessed any unrest in the past few years. This is the BJP’s success,” he said.
Similarly, Boro underscored the prevailing peaceful atmosphere in the BTR and at the same time, took potshots at UPPL’s regional rival, Bodoland People’s Front (BPF).
“During our election campaign in 2020, the BPF had tried to scare people into believing that if the UPPL comes to power, the houses of people will be burnt down and that there will be killings, abductions and assaults. But nothing happened in the past five years. The UPPL ensured this atmosphere,” Boro said at Uttar Kalikhola, falling under BTC’s Nonwi Serfang constituency in Udalguri district.
Muslims and Adivasis (Tea Tribe) have a sizeable population in the constituency.
Although the BJP and the UPPL together rule BTR, they did not forge a pre-poll alliance as was the case in the last election.
In fact, the BJP decided to contest independently. This decision had left the UPPL with no option but to contest on its own strength. The BPF and the Congress, which is seeking to grow in the region, are also going solo.
For the BJP, which previously worked with the BPF in the Assam government, this move appears to be one of political convenience.
Its post-election alignment—either with the UPPL or the BPF—will depend on the results.
The party has kept its options open. The BTR, which witnessed deaths and destruction during three major ethnic riots, has remained peaceful for the past five years.
Multiple peace accords were signed earlier with rebel groups but peace was temporary. In 2020, a concerted effort for permanent peace led to the signing of the “historic” BTR accord among the central government, All Bodo Students’ Union and four insurgent groups. It has stood the test of time.