The Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) that left the Opposition alliance led by the Congress has cosied up to the BJP again in Assam.
Ahead of by-elections to five Assembly seats, BPF chief Hagrama Mohilary said the friendship between his party and the BJP was “certain”. Supporters of his party would vote for the BJP candidate in the Bhabanipur constituency, he stated.
BJP’s Bhabanipur candidate Phanidhar Talukdar had crossed over from the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF). He won the seat for the AIUDF in the April 2021 Assembly polls.
“We are clear about our alliance with the BJP. It is now up to the BJP to formally announce the tie-up,” he told party workers during an election campaign in Gossaigaon.
The BPF is contesting Gossaigaon in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) but did not field any candidate in Tamulpur, also in the BTR, where its rival, the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) is said to enjoy an edge.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, however, trashed Mr. Mohilary’s claim, saying the UPPL was the only ally of the BJP in the BTR. “Many parties claim to be with the BJP but we know who our allies are,” he said at a poll rally in Gossaigaon on Tuesday.
The BPF was an ally of the BJP in the Sarbananda Sonowal government but the two parties fell apart ahead of the Bodoland Territorial Council elections in 2020. The BPF then joined the Congress-led Mahajot of 10 parties. It quit the Mahajot before the Congress severed its ties with the AIUDF almost two months ago.
