BPF part of NDA, claims Himanta after Bodoland Territorial Council polls

Guwahati, Sept 27 (PTI) Claiming that the BPF is a part of the BJP-led NDA, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said he met its chief Hagrama Mohilary and congratulated him for winning the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) elections.

The BPF swept the BTC polls by winning 28 of the 40 seats. On the other hand, the UPPL and the BJP, who had jointly run the administration for the last five years but contested the elections separately, finished far behind with seven and five seats, respectively.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme, Sarma said, "I congratulate Mohilary and the BPF on their victory in the BTC polls. BPF is also part of NDA, and now all 40 seats of BTC are held by NDA constituents.

"Mohilary came to meet me at 4 am after he and his party won the BTC polls. He will remain with the NDA... There is absolutely no problem with the alliance, and we will continue to work together." Sarma claimed that the election results would have been different had the "unfortunate death of Zubeen Garg not happened".

"We refrained from any election-related outreach during the last three days before the polls, and prioritised Zubeen's death over the elections," he said.

The BJP lost by very slim margins in some constituencies and would have won at least 10 to 11 seats, he said.

Sarma said the BJP's vote share has increased considerably.

Attacking the Congress, which failed to win a single seat in the elections, he said the people have already realised that its leader is "a Pakistani agent", in an apparent reference to Gaurav Gogoi.

"When I make public the SIT report, investigating his alleged links with certain people in Pakistan, people will fully realise who the Congress has sent to lead their party in Assam," he said.

He said the SIT report will be discussed in the cabinet meeting on October 4, and after that, "we will take necessary steps". PTI DG DG SOM