Assam, the nucleus of the BJP’s Northeast growth, has been a stronghold of the party since its 2016 Assembly election victory. Since then, the BJP has had an uninterrupted run, be it the Lok Sabha or Assembly or local bodies. However, the nine-year winning streak, maintained since the 2016 Assembly win, has finally been disrupted.In the 2025 Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) elections, the BJP lost to the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), a party headed by former extremist Hagrama Mohilary..preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma was confident that the BJP would perform better. However, the Mohilary-led BPF swept the BTC polls. In the 40-seat BTC election, Mohilary’s BPF won 28 seats, dislodging the BJP-UPPL combine. The BJP managed to win just five seats.BPF SWEEPS BTC ELECTION IN ASSAM, BJP SUFFERS SETBACKThe Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) is an autonomous body established in 2003 under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. It governs the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) in western Assam, comprising five districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, Udalguri, and Tamulpur. It’s an 8,970 square-kilometre area and home to over 3 million people, predominantly from the Bodo tribe. The Council holds legislative, executive, and financial powers over 40 domains like education, land, and culture.The Hagrama Mohilary-led Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) won 28 of the 40 seats, up from 17 in 2020. The BJP, contesting independently for the first time, slumped to five seats from nine, while its former ally United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) managed seven, down from 12.The Congress drew a blank.This is a kind of upset for the BJP, which has been dominating the BTR by allying with one Bodo party or another. It is a key bastion for the BJP, with the area contributing 12 Assembly seats to the NDA’s tally in 2021.Deemed the “semi-final” for the 2026 Assam Assembly polls, the BJP’s loss in the BTC elections, despite CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s aggressive campaigning, shatters the party’s aura of invincibility in Assam.Before the polls, Sarma had kept the option of an alliance with the BPF open, hoping it would emerge as the single largest party. However, much to the BJP’s disappointment, the Hagrama Mohilary-led BPF has swept the elections. Himanta, however, has tried to project it as an NDA victory. But before we look at that, here’s who Hagrama Mohilary is.WHO IS HAGRAMA MOHILARY, REBEL COMMANDER-TURNED POLITICIAN OF BODOLANDThe BPF, which won the local body polls in the BTC, is led by 56-year-old rebel-turned-politician Hagrama Mohilary. Born into a modest Bodo family in Kokrajhar, Mohilary’s youth was shaped by the 1987 Bodo Movement for autonomy. It was a time of fierce clashes over land and identity in western Assam.He rose to prominence as chief of the insurgent Bodoland Liberation Tigers (BLT), which led an armed struggle that left thousands dead. It was not until the 2003 Bodo Accord, which ended militancy and the establishment of the BTC, when Mohilary turned to active democratic politics.After surrendering arms in 2003, Mohilary co-founded the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) in 2005 with Emmanuel Mosahary.As the BPF president, Mohilary became the BTC’s first Chief Executive Member (CEM), serving three terms between 2005 and 2020. His 2010 sweep of 31 seats and 2016 Assembly haul of 12 out of 13 seats cemented the BPF’s dominance.Ousted in 2020 following defections to the BJP, and the UPPL, Mohilary regrouped. Now in 2025, Mohilary’s grassroots mobilisation by championing BTC’s autonomy and rallying anti-BJP sentiments, has propelled the BPF back to power, earning him a fourth CEM term.Though Mohilary won the recent BTC election on an anti-BJP plank, his party has been part of the BJP-led NDA.WHY HIMANTA SAYS IT ISN’T NDA’s LOSS IN BTC ELECTIONAssam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, after the poll results, said that the BPF was a part of the BJP-led NDA.”I congratulate Mohilary and the BPF on their victory in the BTC polls. BPF is also part of the NDA, and now all 40 seats of BTC are held by NDA constituents… We will continue to work together,” said Sarma.Himanta attributed the BJP’s underperformance to the “unfortunate death of Zubeen Garg”, suggesting that the event affected the party’s results. Even before the results were out, Himanta said, “The last 72 hours are crucial to every election. We couldn’t campaign because of the sad demise of Zubeen Garg. We returned to Guwahati to facilitate the return of his body and arrange for the cremation.”After the results, Sarma met BPF chief Mohilary to congratulate him.Hagrama Mohilary’s decisive win in the 2025 BTC elections looked to challenge the BJP’s decade-long dominance in Assam. By reclaiming 28 of 40 seats, Mohilary has reasserted the BPF as the key political force in the Bodoland Territorial Region. With Assembly elections just months away, his comeback signals a potentially unpredictable battle for power in Assam in 2026, despite Himanta’s claims of the BPF being an NDA partner.- EndsPublished By: Sushim MukulPublished On: Sep 29, 2025Must Watch