GUWAHATI: The United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) in Assam is banking on peace and development to win from Kokrajhar, the lone seat it is contesting following its seat-sharing understanding with NDA partners – BJP and Asom Gana Parishad.
The constituency, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes, falls under the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR). The BTR remained restive for decades together and then, peace returned after the Centre had signed the BTR accord with some insurgent groups in January 2020.
Ever since then, no major incident of violence has occurred in BTR which comprises the five districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, Tamulpur and Udalguri. The UPPL-BJP-Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) alliance is in power in the autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) which administers BTR.
UPPL president and BTC chief Pramod Boro is optimistic that UPPL would be able to wrest the Kokrajhar seat from Naba Kumar Sarania, a former leader of the insurgent group United Liberation Front of Assam, who had won the last two times contesting as an independent.
The Kokrajhar seat falls entirely under BTR. Most elected members of UPPL in the BTC are from the Darrang-Udalguri parliamentary seat which falls partially under the autonomous council. BJP leader Dilip Saikia is seeking re-election from the seat.
“We are fighting the polls as NDA. We believe we will win both seats. The reason is that the situation in BTR has changed. People from various communities are living together in absolute peace. Earlier, they lived under Army and police operations, extortions, intimidations,” Boro said.
He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma were instrumental in restoring peace in BTR and developing it.
He also alleged that Sarania had won from the Kokrajhar seat twice by playing the Bodo versus non-Bodo card.
“But people have now realised that their decision to help somebody win the polls by disliking Bodos was not right, as the MP did nothing for the constituency,” Boro said.
Similarly, he added, the minorities realised that BTR now does not have an environment for communal violence which was common in the past. He said as UPPL does not do politics on communal lines, the minorities would not frustrate the party this election.
An estimated over 60 per cent of the voters in the Kokrajhar seat are non-Bodos, including a large number of Muslims.
The UPPL wants Sarania, who is now with GSP, to stay away from the polls if his party wants to remain in power in the BTC.
“The GSP is with us in the BTC. We have asked them to make their position clear. If they contest, they cannot be with us in the BTC,” Boro said.
If Sarania contests, UPPL will be pitted against GSP and Bodoland People’s Front in a triangular fight.