Hagrama Mohilary unanimously elected by BPF to head the next BTC

Kokrajhar (Assam), Sep 27 (PTI) Bodoland Peoples' Front (BPF) chief Hagrama Mohilary was unanimously elected by the party as its leader to head the next Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) at the first meeting of its Policy Making Body (PMB) on Saturday, after winning 28 of the 40 seats in the just concluded polls.

The BPF swept the polls as the UPPL and BJP, alliance partners in the outgoing board, winning 9 and 7 seats, down from 12 and 9 in the last polls, respectively.

Former Assam minister Rihon Daimari was elected as the deputy leader and Derhasat Basumatary as the chief whip of the party in the BTC.

''We plan to hold the swearing-in ceremony on October 3 at Kokrajhar. We will meet Governor Laxman Prasad Acharya on Sunday and stake claim to form the next Council and if he agrees to the date, it will be held as per schedule,'' Mohilary said.

The leaders will also invite the Governor to attend the swearing-in ceremony as the chief guest.

''We will also meet Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday and invite him for the swearing-in ceremony as a special guest'', Mohilary said.

The PMB was held to discuss the swearing in ceremony and not about who will be in the administration or not, he said.

He welcomed Sarma's statement that the BJP will support the BPF as it is an NDA constituent.

''We want all political parties and organisations to support us in fulfilling all the promises that we had made during our campaign,'' the BPF chief said.

Several political parties have supported the BPF at different times and ''though we have not entered into alliances with them, we welcome all support from them,'' he said.

Mohilary claimed that all sections of people are definitely satisfied and happy with the ''promises we made and so voted us to power. We are committed to fulfill all the promises we made''.

He alleged that the outgoing BTC chief Pramod Boro did not fulfil any of the promises made before the last polls.

The BPF will also invite all heads of other councils, chiefs of all political parties, social and religious organisations in the state and also Tipra Motha supremo Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma of Tripura as guests of honour.

All major and important issues of BTC will be discussed in the PMB meeting before implementation, he said.

The meeting began with the members observing a minute's silence as a tribute to singer Zubeen Garg and all martyrs of the Bodo movement.

The BPF will also pay homage to activist Bodofa Upendra Nath Brahma before the swearing-in. PTI COR DG NN