BPF stages a comeback in Assam’s Bodoland council

Elections to the 40-member Council, comprising the five districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, Udalguri and Tamulpur, were held on September 22 peacefully with no repolls ordered. File.

| Photo Credit: PTI

GUWAHATIThe Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) has swept the elections to Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). The final results were declared on Saturday (September 27, 2025).The party, led by Hagrama Mohilary, a maverick former extremist who ruled the BTC for 17 years until 2020, won 28 of the autonomous council’s 40 seats to dislodge the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from power.It was the BPF’s second-best electoral performance after the 31 seats it won in the 2015 council elections.The UPPL and the BJP won seven and five seats, almost half the number of constituencies they won five years ago.Mr. Mohilary contested two seats but won from one. The outcome for his UPPL counterpart and the BTC’s Chief Executive Member, Pramod Boro, was similar.The BPF’s performance was evenly distributed among the five districts of the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) that the BTC administers. These districts are Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Tamulpur, and Udalguri.Allies turned rivalsBased on its 2020 performance, after severing ties with a resurgent BJP, the BPF was expected to do well. It exceeded the expectations by winning 11 more seats than five years ago, partially helped by the decision of the UPPL and BJP to not repeat their pre-poll alliance.In 2020, the BPF emerged as the single-largest party with 17 seats but failed to cobble up the numbers to retain power. The UPPL and the BJP, which won 12 and nine seats, respectively, formed the government along with the regional Gana Suraksha Party (one seat).Although it has its dedicated supporters, the BPF is believed to have benefited from the rivalry between the UPPL and the BJP in at least 30 seats. The former allies tried to outperform each other by claiming to have ensured lasting peace in the hitherto conflict-prone BTR, but ended up losing ground.The UPPL was never a major force in the BTR before Mr. Boro, fresh from brokering the Bodo Peace Accord, took charge in 2020. The outcome is seen as more embarrassing for the BJP, which wanted to expand its reach to the BTC with the 2026 Assembly elections in mind.The BTR encompasses 15 of Assam’s 126 Assembly seats. Although the Congress and other non-National Democratic Alliance (NDA) parties drew a blank in the BTC election, the results have given them confidence that the BJP is not unbeatable.Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the cancellation of the BJP’s campaign three days before the polls due to the untimely death of music legend Zubeen Garg in Singapore affected his party’s performance. “The scenario might have been different had the unfortunate incident not happened, but I am not worried as an NDA partner will form the council,” he said.“All the BTC seats are with the NDA with Congress reduced to zero seats,” Mr. Sarma added.The BPF returned to the NDA after temporarily aligning with a Congress-led grand alliance of 16 parties during the 2021 Assam Assembly election.Fund-dependentAhead of the BTC polls, the BJP toyed with the UPPL and the BPF by indicating both were possible allies in the event of a hung House. The BPF has the numbers to form a council government on its own, but it may create space for the BJP, as tribal councils are dependent on the State and Central governments for development funds.The BTC gets ₹800 crore annually from the Centre via the State government. The fund size is disproportionate to the BTR’s population of more than 31 lakh, but the party or coalition that rules the BTC has to keep both the State and Central governments in good humour to get the funds.“As an NDA partner, we will ensure a government that runs smoothly in coordination with the governments at the Centre and in the State,” Mr. Mohilary said, attributing the BPF’s victory to the public outreach among Bodos and non-Bodos, who account for 35% and 65% of the population in the BTR, respectively.Many in the BTR agree that the UPPL-BJP government undertook various projects across the BTR, but they failed to touch the common people despite promising long-term benefits. Published - September 27, 2025 10:56 am IST