Guwahati: This September 22, the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) elections was completed with over 72% polling. Counting of votes, conducted through ballot papers, will begin on September 26.BTR comprises 40 constituencies spread across five districts of Assam.These elections, held just months before Assam goes to assembly polls, have been in the news for a number of reasons, primarily because this is the first time a national party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is trying to form the next government on its own. Since the formation of the BTAD (Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts) in Assam in 2003, through which the region achieved autonomy under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution with the first election taking place in 2005, local parties have dominated the political sphere. Hagrama Mohilary had become the first CEM (Chief Executive Member) of BTC (Bodoland Territorial Council), the autonomous council of BTAD, and continued to hold that post till 2020, when Pramod Boro took over the top post. Boro’s party UPPL (United People’s Party Liberal), in alliance with BJP, had formed the government at the Council that year.However, this time around, the BJP, in power at the state government since 2016, has positioned itself as one of the main contenders. Notably, the UPPL-BJP alliance does not seem to be working smoothly. On several occasions, state chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has not only openly criticised UPPL, but also accused its ally of gross inefficiency in running the Council and corruption in delivering Central and state government schemes to the beneficiaries. However, Sarma later said his party’s doors are open to both UPPL and its local opposition, the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF).Even after strong claims by Sarma that BJP would grab of power at the BTR on its own, the BPF and its founding chief Hagrama Mohilary are hoping to return to power once again. The BPF had won with the highest number of seats in the last BTR elections in 2020, but it had failed to form the government as UPPL had joined hands with the BJP to form a coalition government at the Council. Those elections were held after UPPL had signed the BTR Accord with the Narendra Modi government earlier that year. As per the new peace agreement, the BTC region was also renamed ‘BTR or Bodo Territorial Region.’In these elections, one of the main campaign planks for the BPF is the apparent failure of that peace accord – even after Union home minister Amit Shah claimed early this year that over 80% of the promises made in the BTR Accord had been fulfilled. The Wire spoke to Mohilary on a range of issues including the fulfilment of promises jointly made by UPPL and the BJP through the BTR Accord and the basic differences between the BTR Accord and the BTC or Bodo Accord which he, as the then head of the armed outfit Bodo Liberation Tigers (BTR), had signed with New Delhi in 2003. The BTR versus BTC Accords “The 2003 BTC or Bodo Accord was an agreement with constitutional recognition. It was passed in both houses of Parliament and was turned into a law,” Mohilary pointed out, adding, “Therefore, the provisions of the BTC Accord cannot be nullified without a constitutional amendment. This framework holds a deep emotional connection not only for the Bodo people but also for all communities residing in the BTC region.”He also added, “Based on that agreement, the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution was amended to include provisions applicable to the Plains Tribal areas, to include the Bodo areas of Assam. In other words, we can say that implementing the Sixth Schedule in the Bodo region is one of the major successes of the BTC Accord which is rare in Indian political history.”“Another important aspect of the BTC Accord,” Mohilary told The Wire, “is the inclusion of the Bodo language in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.”Also read: Assam: Governor Takes Charge of Bodoland Territorial CouncilThe BTC accord had also provided administrative autonomy to the region, “Additionally, through that accord, the Council administration was granted independent authority over 40 departments which were previously under the Assam government. Even during the signing of the BTC Accord, all national organisations, political parties, and intellectuals in Assam openly supported it.”“However, in contrast, the BTR Accord was signed secretly, without seeking any kind of public opinion or consultation. Unlike the BTC Accord, the BTR Accord does not enjoy any constitutional status. We can say that the BTR Accord was part of a major political conspiracy aimed at removing our BPF party from power,” he said.Calling it a “failure” of the BTR Accord, Mohilary said, “What is more unfortunate is that Ranjan Daimary, one of the signatories to the BTR Accord and a leader of the Nationalist Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), was released from jail for just a few hours to be in Delhi and then sent back again to jail. Such a peace agreement is rare and unseen anywhere in the world. Ranjan Daimary should have been granted amnesty as part of the peace accord and given a chance to lead a normal life. Therefore, we can say that the BTR Accord couldn’t bring any real benefits.”Redefining Bodoland boundary and a Rs-1500 crore packageThe BTR Accord had mentioned that the boundaries of Bodoland would be newly redefined, but that re-drawing of the boundary has not been completed. And yet, Shah had claimed that 80% of the promises made in the peace agreement had been achieved. Mohilary was of the opinion that before “resolving the issue of the 96 disputed villages mentioned in the BTC Accord, it is important to analyse how appropriate it is to include new areas into the region. Moreover, the court cases regarding the exclusion of villages from the BTC area are still pending and have not yet been resolved. Our party has no objection if the boundary of the Council is extended by including new villages. We would welcome it. However, this must be done based on mutual consensus.”The opposition leader also said, “We had heard that under the BTR Accord, an amount of Rs 1,500 crore would be granted by the Centre over three years, but we have not seen any visible work being done so far in the Council areas.”BPF’s renewed organisational strengthOn being asked whether his claims ahead of polling that the BPF would return to power with 20+ seats is due to an anti-incumbency wave against the UPPL–BJP alliance, Mohilary replied, “I am making this statement based on the organisational status of the BPF party. Since this February, several senior leaders of the party were entrusted with the responsibility of a mission. It was named ‘The Strength of the BPF Party, the Devotion of the Booth Committee.’.”“Based on that mission, our party leaders and workers reached out to voters in every block – that is, every constituency of the Council – down to the booth level, thereby establishing good relations with people from all communities living in the Council areas, irrespective of caste, class or religion, including notable individuals and those not associated with any political party. Additionally, party workers were instructed to enrol an average of 80 families per booth into the BPF party.”“This mission was successfully completed and from our thorough review of the situation from various angles, I can confidently say that we will win in 25 constituencies.”BJP main opponent, not UPPLMohilary also said that his main opponent in the recent elections was the BJP. “The UPPL party has already been rejected by the people of the BTC region due to its failures. So I don’t need to contest it. Our main opponent is BJP because we feel that in regions where the question of self-rule or autonomy of small indigenous communities is involved, national parties should ideally not participate in the electoral process.”National political forces and crisis of smaller identitiesThe senior Bodo leader said his community’s biggest challenge currently “is an identity crisis, and the challenge to preserve the distinct identity of the community”.“This is because various national political forces are constantly attempting to erode or swallow up these smaller identities, which signals a very alarming trend. Such trends have created concern not only among the Bodos but also among all communities residing within the BTC region,” he said.