India
oi-Deepika S
Guwahati, Feb 14: Assam’s Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma made it clear Sunday that the ruling BJP will not have any alliance with his current ally Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.
In the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), the BJP has already formed an alliance with the People’s United Liberal Party (UPPL) and is currently in talks with another group, the Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) on seat-sharing arrangements, he said. Sarma.
“We have said many times that our alliance with BPF was only for five years and both parties were committed to it. They are still in our government and it is a healthy policy,” said the BJP leader.
Congress will never implement the CAA if power is voted in Assam: Rahul
In the BTR, the BJP will have an agreement to share a seat with the UPPL and the deputy of Lok Sabha, the GSP led by Naba Sarania, Sarma, who is also Coordinator of the Northeast Democratic Alliance (NEDA), the version of the NDA in the northeast, he said.
Formed in 2005, BPF is a state political party in Assam based in Kokrajhar.
“We have already started negotiations with Sarania and it is moving in the positive direction. We will announce our candidates within 48 hours of announcing the election dates,” he added.
BPF’s relationship with BJP broke down during the last 40-member Bodoland Territorial Council elections, where the saffron party abandoned its state ally BPF and formed the council government in alliance with UPPL and GSP.
The BJP is currently the largest party in the 126-member Assam house with 60 MLA, while its allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and BPF now have 13 and 11 legislators respectively. The ruling coalition is also supported by an Independent MLA.
The new regional Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) party, which has formed an alliance with another new political group, Raijor Dal, has recently said that it is talking to the BPF and “is moving in the positive direction.”
The Assam Assembly elections are likely to take place between March and April. The 2016 elections gave a fractured mandate and no party obtained an absolute majority in the current assembly.
The opposition Congress has 19 MLAs at present, while the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has 14 members at home in Assam.
She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.