Will be delighted if Hagrama joins Congress 'gathbandhan': APCC President Ripun Bora

Barpeta: With the 2021 Assam elections drawing closer each day, all the parties in the state are looking to forge alliances to bolster their chances of forming the Government. Now, Congress President Ripun Bora has urged Bodoland People's Front (BPF) supremo Hagrama Mohilary to join the party's maha gathbandhan to take on the saffron BJP in the polls.

Speaking during a programme in Barpeta district's Pathsala, Bora said that many BJP leaders will join the Congress party during the polls. Bora also also urged Hagrama Mohilary to join the Grand Old Party's alliance, adding that the latter was "in talks."

"He (Hagrama) once was an alliance partner and has a connection with the Congress. Thus, we would be delighted if he joins us again," Bora told reporters on the sidelines of a programme.

The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President (APCC) has also said that talks with the latest regional parties -- 'Raijor Dal' and 'Asom Jatiya Parishad' have been going on.

Hagrama's BPF is the largest political party in the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) In the 2011 Assam Assembly election, BPF won 12 seats.In 2011, with 12 elected lawmakers, the BPF initially supported the Congress government, primarily because of the efforts of Himanta Biswa Sarma.

With Assam heading for elections in 2016, Bharatiya Janata Party made its first alliance with the Bodoland People's Front in lower Assam.In the 2016 Assembly Elections, the BPF won 12 seats.

The alliance, however, is seen to be on shaky ground, with the BJP deciding to contest the polls in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) region by itself. Yesterday, the BJP made yet another bold statement: by getting 705 non-Bodo leaders of the of the United Bodo People's Organization (UBPO) joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a grand ceremony held in Guwahati's Srimanta Sankardeva Kalashetra. Assam's Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Himanta Biswa Sarma, and party president Ranjeet Kumar Dass were present to induct the Bodo leaders into the saffron party.

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