Cong to fight ally in Bodo Council polls

The Congress and Bodo Peoples Front (BPF),partners in Assams ruling coalition,face off against each other in the elections to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) on April 9....

The Congress and Bodo Peoples Front (BPF),partners in Assams ruling coalition,face off against each other in the elections to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) on April 9. While the BPF has fielded candidates in all 40 constituencies of BTC,Congress has fielded in 24.

While Congress,senior partner in the alliance,had sought to remain an ally of the BPF,the latter turned it down,leaving no option for the Congress but to field its own candidates. While we are putting up 24 candidates,only 21 seats are required to capture the Bodo Council, Congress general secretary Paniram Rabha said.

BPF chief Hagrama Mohilari claimed his party would win all 40 seats. There is no scope for other parties winning even a single seat, he said.

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Things do not seem smooth for the Congress as Purna Chandra Basumatary,nominee for the No 11 Baukhungri constituency,was abducted by unidentified miscreants from a hotel in Kokrajhar on Monday night before he could file his nomination papers. .

BPF has 10 MLAs in the Assembly to Congress 56 and three of its members are ministers in the Gogoi government.

BTC is an autonomous legislature constituted under provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. It covers four districts of Assam,Kokrajhar,Chirang,Baska and Udalguri.