BTC swearing-in ceremony at Kokrajhar on Tuesday

GUWAHATI: Assam Cabinet minister and senior BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that while United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) chief Pramod Boro would be sworn in as chief executive member of Bodoland Territorial Council on Tuesday, the deputy chief executive member will also be from UPPL.

Speaking to reporters here on Monday afternoon, Sarma informed that five members – two from UPPL, two from BJP and one from Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) would take oath at the swearing-in ceremony at Kokrajhar on Tuesday

Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal had on Sunday announced that the BJP, UPPL and GSP would form the council with UPPL chief Pramod Boro as its chief executive member (CEM).

“The Governor has already invited the alliance members (winning candidates from the three parties) and the swearing-in ceremony will take place at 11am in Kokrajhar tomorrow,” Sarma had earlier told reporters following an early-morning meeting with UPPL chief Pramod Boro at state BJP president Ranjeet Kumar Dass’ official residence on Monday.

Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) chief Hagrama Mohilary, in a last-ditch effort to stay in power, appealed to its senior ally (BJP) in the Assam government, to extend support to his party to form the council, following a fractured mandate in the council elections. However, the request was turned down.

BPF, which had ruled the council for three consecutive terms, secured 17 seats, to emerge as the single largest party, but did not have the numbers to stake claim to form the council.

Sarma denied reports of any horse trading circulated in the media even as security was tightened at the hotel where the winning candidates were camping.

A series of closed-door meetings have taken place over the past couple of days with leaders of the alliance claiming that the date and venue of the oath-taking ceremony were finalised during the course of the meetings.

The UPPL secured 12 seats, the BJP nine, while the GSP secured one seat in the recently concluded BTC polls.

Asked about the reports of horse trading, UPPL chief Boro said that such a trend was not new. “The people of BTC have given their mandate in favour of both UPPL and BPF and so the elected members will have to respect that or else they will be answerable to the electorate,” he said.

“We are now concerned about improving governance,” Boro said prior to leaving for Kokrajhar on Monday morning.