OUR CORRESPONDENT
KOKRAJHAR: Like previous years, the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) today celebrated the 23rd BTC Accord Day at Bodoland Movement Martyrs’ Cemetery, Deborgaon in Kokrajhar, to mark the historic Accord between the Government of India, Assam and the BLT in 2003.
As part of the programme, President of BPF and former Chief of BTC Hagrama Mohilary and his colleagues paid glowing tribute to Bodofa Upendra Nath Brahma in front of the BTC Secretariat followed by hoisting of the national flag at Movement Cemetery, Deborgaon. He also paid tribute to all the martyrs of Bodoland movement inside the cemetery. The epitaph of 2,426 Bodoland movement martyrs of ABSU and BLT in the cemetery were garlanded where family members of the martyrs paid tribute to their respective kins.
Talking to mediapersons, President of BPF Hagrama Mohilary said that the BTC Accord formed under 6th schedule of the Indian Constitution was a historic arrangement through which the development of BTC got started. He said that the BTR Accord had no constitutional approval and its clauses have not been properly implemented in the last five years but the 16 of the 40 transferred departments to BTC were taken back by the State Government, which is a clear example of BTR being demoted from the 6th schedule status. The BPF President also claimed that the BPF will return to power in BTC in 2025 and the BTC elections to be held either in April or in September will bring back the 16 departments under its parameters. Mohilary added that he was happy with BTR Accord only for the NDFB who have returned to mainstream but at the same time it was unfortunate that many top leaders of the NDFB, including founder Ranjan Daimary who was one of the signatories of BTR Accord have been languishing in the jails, while their cadres were not properly rehabilitated.
Replying to queries, Mohilary said that the BPF was enough in itself to fight the BTC elections alone but will keep the door open for the GSP if they really want to forge an alliance. He said that 120 intending candidates have applied for BPF ticket in 40 constituencies and 20 of them are almost in final consideration. He also said that March 20 would be the cut-off date for seeking tickets by the intending candidates. He further claimed that the BPF had the strongest bases in BTC and that their candidates would emerge victorious to form the next council government. If the election is held at this moment, the BPF will win a landslide victory, he added.
On the continuous exit of senior BPF leaders from the party, Mohilary said that this was a common phenomenon of every party. The BPF will not collapse under any circumstances with the exit of former minister Chandan Brahma and former Deputy Chief of BTC and vice-president of the BPF Kampa Borgoyari because the supporters of the BPF are very strong and have faith on him as he will never switch to other parties and thus people are with him, he added. Mohilary claimed that both Chandan and Kampa are in contact with him as they have been sent by him just to spy the activities of UPPL President Pramod Boro but both of them will continue to work with the BPF in a secret way.
Mohilary extended his profound gratitude to the bereaved family members of the Bodoland Movement martyrs and offered deep condolences to the heroes of the movement on the occasion of BTC Accord day. He also remembered Bodofa Upendra Nath Brahma on this day saying that he was the guiding force behind the BTC Accord.
An open meeting was also held at Deborgaon where senior party leaders like former Minister Pramila Rani Brahma, ex-MLA Maneswar Brahma, MCLAs Derhasat Basumatary and Doneswar Goyary, and other leaders attended the meeting. Earlier, the BPF supporters from all block committees moved to Debirgaon through a bike rally from their respective offices of the party.
Also Read: Assam: Doomdooma College Concludes 54th College Week with Vibrant Cultural Procession
Also Watch: