Non-Bodoland People’s Front candidate on BPF’s panel for Kokrajhar Lok Sabha seat creates confusion

KOKRAJHAR: Dark clouds are hovering over the sky of BPF ahead of the ensuing parliamentary election, as the president of the party, Hagrama Mohilary, recently released the names of three persons as official candidates in the panel list for the Kokrajhar (ST) parliamentary seat.

The arithmetic of the BPF for finalising its candidate for the Kokrajhar ST seat is not known. However, figuring out the name of a person who has no affiliation with the BPF is confusing its supporters. The BPF recently announced the names of three persons for Kokrajhar ST HPC, which included the names of former state Cabinet Minister Pramila Rani Brahma, former Deputy Chief of BTC Kampa Borgoyari, and Prithviraj Narayan Dev Mech, who played the role of middleman in the centre-NDFB peace talks.

Out of the three persons, former minister Pramila Rani Brahma has distanced herself by saying before the media that she has the intention to be a candidate for the party as she lacks the money to fight in the election. Meanwhile, Prithviraj Narayan Dev Mech has been running from pillar to post for the BPF ticket and holding press meetings constantly at a hotel owned by BPF president Hagrama Mohilary in the heart of Kokrajhar town. He is confidently claiming that there is no doubt about his BPF ticket for the Kokrajhar ST seat. On Sunday too, he held a press conference at the hotel and said his candidature from BPF became 100 percent and he was going to win from Kokrajhar. He also said the Bodos and non-Bodos will vote for him to mobilise a central fund of Rs. 3000 crore for BTC annually.

On the other hand, the vice president of the BPF and former Deputy Chief of BTC, Kampa Borgoyari, while speaking to a section of the media, said that he had neither heard nor seen Prithviraj Narayan Dev Mech. He said Prithviraj was neither a member of the BPF nor connected with the party. He also said the BPF would not give importance to his demand.

There have been many questions among the supporters of BPF about how a person from outside the party line can be included in the BPF penal list despite having many potential faces. Many party workers doubt whether there had been some secret understanding between BPF president Hagrama Mohilary and the BJP at the behest of Prithviraj Narayan Dev Mech to make sure of BJP-UPPL combined candidate to win. Most of the supporters, including the heavy weight of the party, presumed that the BPF would no longer sustain itself in the days to come if Prithviraj was given a ticket, and a large number of supporters could leave the BPF.

Another close aide of Hagrama Mohilary told this correspondent that Mohilary, knowingly or unknowingly, had been giving maximum importance to Prithviraj Narayan for the reasons best known to him. He also said the survival of the BPF will be in the ICU if Prithviraj is declared the official candidate of the BPF.

Meanwhile, the BPF is seen to be regaining ground in various corners across the BTC, and many supporters are joining the party everywhere.

Also Read: Assam: Prohibitory orders imposed in Sonitpur district to maintain law and order situation

Also Watch: