Guwahati/ Kokrajhar: The winds of politics in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) is set to change its direction with the Bodoland People’s Party (BPF) set to take control of its reigns after a gap of nearly 5 years.
The Bodoland People’s Party (BPF), a former ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) put up a stiff fight in the BTC elections emerging as the single largest party, winning 29 out of 40 council seats. While the UPPL managed to win 6 votes, the BJP managed to secure 4 seats, till the time of filing this report. However the final results are expected by today morning, according to officials of the State Election Commission.
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A close aide of Hagrama Mohilary while speaking to The Assam Rising stated, “This is not just BPF’s win. This is Bodo people’s win. They have chosen our party and leader Hagrama Mohilary to guide us and head the council. The people have rejected Pramod Boro and UPPL. This result shows no one is above God and the public. The public are our responsibilities and we will ensure that the BPF will leave no stone unturned in safe guarding the rights of its public”.
The fifth general elections of the BTC elections were conducted on the 22nd of Sep, 2025 of which the counting of votes was held yesterday. A total of 316 candidates were in the fray this time for the 40 seats, across 5 districts- Kokrajhar, Udalguri, Baksa, Chirang & Tamulpur. Parties or coalitions having strength of more than 21 members out of 40 can form their respective councils.
Altogether, there were a total of 26, 58, 153 voters, with females (13, 36, 600) outnumbering males. The election saw a voter turnout of around 78.42 %.
While the BPF, UPPL and the Congress contested in all the 40 council seats, the BJP contested in 30 seats, the Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) in 11, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) 4 and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) contested in 8 seats.
While the BJP led by its CM Himanta Biswa Sarma held several rallies in the BTR in the run-up to the elections, it was the BPF Chief Hagrama Mohilary who had the last laugh after the results were declared yesterday.
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For the Bodo people residing in BTR, this election was not just a mere election, but about survival of their identity. The people of Bodoland who had bestowed their faith on UPPL and Pramod Boro to safeguard Bodoland’s autonomy and implement the BTR accord are now disillusioned. Boro’s increasing ties with the BJP also unsettled many. His critics accused him of turning UPPL into BJP’s mouthpiece, compromising the regions autonomy.
Although Hagrama Mohilary may have been accused of corruption during his long tenure from 2003- 2020, voters from the Bodoland respected his fierce protection of Bodoland’s autonomy.
While UPPL focused on highlighting development work and its partnership with the BJP government, Hagrama and the BPF ran a campaign that appealed to sentiments- the promise of restoring Bodoland’s dignity, sovereignty and autonomy. Hagrama’s message was simple – Under BPF, BTC’s power will stay in Bodo hands.
The BTC came into existence immediately after the surrender of Bodo Liberation Tigers Force (BLTF). The BLTF laid down its weapons on 6th Dec 2003 under the leadership of Hagrama Mohilary and accordingly Hagrama was sworn in as the Chief Executive Member (CEM) on 7 Dec, 2003 and became the first Chief Executive Member, serving until 27 April, 2020 for a period of 17 years.
In the 2020 BTC elections, BPF won 17 seats, UPPL 12, BJP 9, while the Congress and Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) managed to win 1 seat each.
However, after accepting the post poll alliance of the UPPL, BJP and GSP in 2020, the people in Bodoland, five years later have once again handed over its reigns its ex-CEM Hagrama Mohilary, leader of BPF party.
