BPF seeks BTC polls at the earliest, moves Assam State Election Commissioner

PIL filed challenging Governor’s Rule in BTAD

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: A high-level BPF (Bodoland People’s Front) delegation led by its working president and Rajya Sabha MP Biswajit Daimary on Wednesday met Assam State Election Commissioner Alok Kumar and submitted a memorandum seeking resumption of the election process in BTC (Bodoland Territorial Council) at the earliest in accordance with “the innovative steps and measures suggested by the State Government in its recent Cabinet meeting”.

Talking to The Sentinel, Daimary said, “We met Assam State Election Commissioner and requested the State Election Commission to conduct the polls in the BTC after the situation normalizes in the post-lockdown phase. The Commissioner assured us that he will consult the State government in this regard.”

Daimary further informed, “The BPF filed a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) in the Gauhati High Court today challenging the imposition of Governor’s Rule in BTAD (Bodoland Territorial Administrative Districts) on April 27, 2020. Earlier, we had requested for term extension of the Hagrama Mohilary-led BTC as the election process suddenly halted midway following lockdown.”

Later in the day, the BPF delegation met Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal over the same issue. The delegation was also accompanied by three AGP (Asom Gana Parishad) Ministers namely Atul Bora, Keshab Mahanta, and Phani Bhushan Choudhury.

The BTC election-2020 which was scheduled to be held on April 4, 2020 has been postponed indefinitely by the Assam State Election Commission vide notification No. SEC.146/2019/117 dated March 20, 2020.

The BPF memorandum to State Election Commissioner further stated, “The Assam State Cabinet has already decided to allow standalone shops in the rural areas of the ‘Green’ and ‘Orange’ zone districts to open. Recently, during a Cabinet meeting, a decision had been taken to conduct the BTC election-2020 through an innovative idea.“

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