Dumping the BPF

After having shared power in the state for a little less than five years, the BJP appears to be all set to dump Hagrama Mohilary and his Bodoland People's Front (BPF). Relation between the two parties has been fast deteriorating in the past six or eight months, and while the senior ally had so far remained silent, Mohilary had made occasional eruptions against the BJP, especially when it was about running the affairs of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). Looking back, one can see that the BPF, which was originally constituted by former All Bodo Students' Union president Urkhaw Gwra Brahma (who is also a former Independent Rajya Sabha member, having been sent to the Upper House by the AGP-led alliance of 1996-2001) in the aftermath of the Bodo Accord of 2003, had become Hagrama Mohilary's party after he had thrown out the original founders.

While the Bodo Accord of 2003 was a gift of the BJP-led government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and more particularly of the then Union Home Minister LK Advani, the Congress drew the BPF closer, and made it an ally at the state level. But with the ouster of the Congress from Dispur, Hagrama Mohilary's BPF switched sides and joined the BJP-led bandwagon in 2016. What is interesting to note is that while Mohilary did not miss any opportunity to share power in Dispur, be it with the Congress or the BJP, he however was careful in ensuring that the Congress or BJP never reached Kokrajhar to share power with him in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). While it is a fact that the Congress practically had no existence in the BTC areas, what the BJP has done is that it has slowly but steadily built up its network in the BTC areas in the past five years. The BTC election, which was delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, has meanwhile come as a blessing in disguise for the BJP to make its foray into the BTC areas. It is obvious that the BJP being an aggressive political party known for rendering most of its opponents weak by various means, cannot afford to leave the BTC to the BPF forever.

Thus, while on one hand it began steadily strengthening its network in the Bodo districts, it on the other hand has begun wooing prominent BPF leaders, with Rajya Sabha member and BPF vice-president Biswajit Daimary turning out to be the biggest catch. Yet another prominent BPF leader who is likely to join the BJP is Tamulpur MLA Emannuel Mushahary, while there have been rumours that minister Rihon Daimary is also likely to quit the BPF and join the saffron party. Meanwhile, the increase in influence and popularity of the UPPL headed by former ABSU president Pramod Boro has also come in handy for the BJP, which is looking at indirect support from the UPPL to throw out Hagrama Mohilary, lock stock and barrel, from the BTC. It is a well-accepted fact that continuation of the same party in power for a long period has several negative outfalls.

One, it makes those in power arrogant. Two, it leads to corruption. Three, it begins to belittle the democratic norms and traditions. Four, violation of rights begins to become a regular affair. And finally, development and welfare of the masses suffers. Indications of such developments in the BTC districts have been coming in very often. Senior minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma has become highly vocal about these developments in the BTC. He has recently said that BPF president Hagrama Mohilary had miserably failed to ensure equal development of all communities despite the BJP-led government at the Centre and in the State pumping in crores of rupees. He has also alleged that the non-tribal people living in the BTAD areas were increasingly denied their rights, including land rights. The biggest issue, as Sarma has pointed out is that most of the schemes were not properly implemented by the BTC despite the full support and opportunities given by the State government.