Assam Polls: BPF fields 11 candidates, Chief’s wife makes debut

Guwahati, Mar 20: National Democratic Alliance (NDA) constituent Bodoland People's Front (BPF) has announced candidates for 11 seats for the upcoming Assam Assembly elections, which include its lone minister in the current government, besides the wife of the party chief.

BPF president Hagrama Mohilary declared the party’s nominees on Thursday night, shortly after alliance partners Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) released their candidate lists.

Expressing confidence, Mohilary said, “BPF will contest 11 seats, and along with BJP’s four seats in the region, the NDA will win all 15 seats. I am 100 percent confident.”

Cabinet minister Charan Boro, a two-time MLA, will contest from Mazbat, while sitting MLA and senior leader Rabiram Narzary has been fielded from Dotma.

In a notable move, Mohilary’s wife, Sewli Mohilary, will make her electoral debut as the party’s candidate from Kokrajhar.

However, one of the party’s three sitting MLAs, Durga Das Boro, has been dropped from the list.

Among former MLAs, Rihon Daimary (Udalguri), Thaneswar Basumatary (Manas), Maneswar Brahma (Baksa) and Maheswar Boro (Bhergaon) have been fielded.

Rezaul Karim, former president of the All Assam Minority Students' Union, who recently joined the BPF, has been named as the candidate from Parbotjhora.

Other candidates include Sabharam Basumatary (Gossaigaon), Rupam Roy (Baokungri) and Paniram Brahma (Sidli Chirang).

The election is scheduled to take place on April 9 and the counting of votes will take place on May 4.

In the outgoing Assembly, the BJP holds 64 seats, followed by AGP with nine, United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) with seven, and BPF with three MLAs.

In the opposition, the Indian National Congress has 26 members, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has 15, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has one, along with an Independent legislator.

With inputs from PTI