Bodoland Territorial Council

This article is about the council which controls the Bodoland Territorial Region. For the region and proposed state, see Bodoland.

Bodoland Territorial Council
Type
Type	Autonomous Council of the Bodoland Territorial Region
Term limits	5 years
Leadership
Chief	Pramod Boro [1]
Deputy Chief	Gobinda Basumatary
Speaker	Katiram Boro
Leader of Opposition	Vacant, Bodoland People's Front
Structure
Seats	46 (40+6)
Political groups	Government (33) NEDA (33)   UPPL (16)   BJP (14)   GSP (1) [2]   Appointed (6) Opposition (9)   BPF (9) [3]
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	7-10 December 2020
Next election	2025
Meeting place
Bodoland Secretariat, Bodofa Nwgwr, Kokrajhar
Website
www.bodoland.gov.in

The Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) is an autonomous council for the Bodoland Territorial Region established under 6th Schedule of The Constitution of India according to the Memorandum of Settlement between Bodoland Liberation Tiger Force (BLTF) and Government of India and Government of Assam.

The BTC has 40 elected members and an additional six members that are appointed by the Governor of Assam. The area under the BTC jurisdiction is officially called the Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD). The region falls within the geographical map of the least developed region in India. The agro-based economy is the only source of livelihood of the people. Industrialisation and other employment opportunities are scant.

The Bodoland Territorial Council is headed by a Speaker and the executive committee is chaired by a Chief Executive Member, currently Pramod Boro.

The BTC consists of five contiguous districts — Kokrajhar, Baksa, Udalguri, Chirang, Tamulpur — carved out of seven existing districts — Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari, Kamrup, Darrang and Sonitpur — an area of 8970 km² (11% of Assam land area i.e. 78,438  km²) comprising various protected tribal belts and blocks in Assam. Its establishment was under the Amended Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India. ^[4]

History

The BTC was constituted in 2003 and the first elections were held in 2005. ^[5]

Powers and competencies

Executive and legislative powers

The executive and legislative powers of the Bodoland Territorial Council are derived from the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India and the 2003 and 2020 Bodoland Peace Agreements.

The powers and competencies of the council are as follows: ^{[6] [7]}

• Cottage Industry
• Animal Husbandry and Veterinary
• Forestry & Wild life
• Climate Change
• Agriculture
• Public Works
• Silk Industry
• Soil Conservation
• Co-operatives
• Fisheries
• Handlooms and Textiles
• Health and Family Welfare
• Public Health Engineering
• Irrigation
• Social Welfare & Nutrition
• Flood control schemes
• Sports and Youth Welfare
• Weights and Measures
• Library Services
• Museums and Archaeology
• Urban Development and Town and Country Planning
• Tribal Research Institute
• Education
• Land and Land Revenue
• Public Relations
• Printing and Stationery
• Tourism
• Transport
• Urban Development
• Dairy Development
• Municipal Corporations
• Village administration
• Tribal Welfare
• Welfare of SCs, OBCs, Scheduled Tribes and Minority
• Markets and Fairs
• Lotteries, Theatres, Dramatic Performance and Cinemas
• Registration of Births and Deaths
• Food Processing
• Intoxicating liquors and opium and derivatives
• Renewable Energy
• Cultural Affairs
• Industry
• Legal Metrology
• Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
• Excise
• Horticulture
• Science and Technology
• Farmers Welfare
• AYUSH
• Social Justice & Empowerment
• Welfare of Tea Tribes
• Economic and Statistics
• Traditional Skill Development
• Food and Civil Supplies
• Consumer Affairs
• Welfare of Bodoland
• Labour and Employment including Industrial Training Institutes

Revenue and taxation

The Bodoland Territorial Council to levy taxes, fees and tolls on; buildings and land, animals, vehicles, boats, entry of goods into the area, roads, ferries, bridges, sanitation, employment and income and general taxes for the maintenance of schools and roads. ^{[7] [6]}

Composition

No party has won a majority in the elections in the December 2020 council election with BPF emerging as the single largest party. ^[8] On 13 December 2020, the UPPL, BJP and GSP agreed to form the next executive. ^[9]

Party summary

Party		Contested	Won	+/-	% of Votes
	Bodoland People's Front	37	17 - 7 = 10	7
	United People's Party Liberal	40	12 + 3 = 15	3
	Bharatiya Janata Party	26	9 + 5 = 14	3
	All India United Democratic Front	7	0	4
	Indian National Congress	13	1 - 1 = 0 (defected to BJP) [10]
	Gana Suraksha Party	35	1	1
	Asom Gana Parishad	1	0
	Appointed	n/a	6
Total			46

Members

Executive power is vested in an executive committee led by the Chief Executive Member.

However, between April 2020 and December 2020, all executive and legislative functions were exercised by a principal secretary acting on behalf of the Governor of Assam. ^[11] In April 2020, Siddharth Singh has been appointed as the Principal Secretary of Bodoland Territorial Council, ^[12] while Rajesh Prasad was posted as the administrator. ^{[13] [11]}

Membership (2020-2025 session)

S.No	Constituency	Elected Candidate's Name	Party		Margin	Remarks
1.	Parbatjhora	Moon Moon Brahma		BPF	7776
2.	Guma	Rahindra Brahma		BPF	3789
3.	Srirampur	Sajal Kumar Singha		BJP	7499	Joined BJP in 2020
4.	Jamduar	Reo Reoa Narzihary		BJP	5842	Joined BJP in 2020
5.	Soraibil	Mrityunjoy Narzary		BPF	3527
6.	Kachugaon	Ukil Mushahary		UPPL	507
7.	Dotma	Prakash Basumatary		BPF	1485
8.	Fakiragram	Arup Kumar Dey		BJP	2088
9.	Banargaon	Rajib Brahma		BJP	1975 join bjp
10.	Deborgaon	Hagrama Mohilary		BPF	1982
11.	Baukhungri	Dhaneswar Goyary		BPF	3835
12.	Salakati	Derhasat Basumatary		BPF	4912
13.	Chirang	Saikong Basumatary		BPF	1339	Joined UPPL in 2021
14.	Chirang Duars	Ranjit Basumatary		UPPL	2143
15.	Kajalgaon	Paniram Brahma		BPF	3996
16.	Nichima	James Basumatary		BPF	2781
17.	Sobhaijhar	Prabhat Basumatary		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	2006
18.	Manas Serfang	Dhananjay Basumatary		BPF	1240	Joined UPPL in 2021
19.	Thuribari	Abhiram Mahanayak		BJP	1859
20.	Mathanguri	Gautam Das		BJP	5123
21.	Salbari	Joy Muchahary		UPPL	448	Joined UPPL in 2024
22.	Koklabari	Pramod Boro		UPPL	3734
23.	Dihira	Ghanashyam Das		GSP	1519
24.	Musalpur	Rakesh Brahma		UPPL	3641
25.	Baganpara	Katiram Boro		UPPL	4029
26.	Darangajuli	Bijit Gawra Narzary		BJP	4347	Joined BJP in 2021
27.	Nagrijuli	Dharma Narayan Das		BJP	644
28.	Goibari	Pramod Boro		UPPL	5789
29.	Suklai Serfang	Ranendra Narzary		BJP	1674
30.	Goreswar	Pabitra Kumar Boro		UPPL	1605
31.	Khwirwbari	Bhabendra Boro		BJP	1119
32.	Bhergaon	Daobaisa Boro		UPPL	6528
33.	Nonwi Serfang	Sanjit Tanti		BJP	2008
34.	Khaling Duar	Dilip Kumar Boro		UPPL	1150
35.	Mwdwibari	Diganta Baruah		BJP	1539
36.	Horisinga	Sonjoy Swargiary		UPPL	1334
37.	Dwhwnsri	Fresh Muchahari		BPF	2736
38.	Bhairabkunda	Gobinda Basumatary		UPPL	1082
39.	Pasnwi Serfang	Dipak Mour		BJP	4471
40.	Rowta	Dr. Nilut Swargiary		UPPL	6353

Executive Committee

The leader of the UPPL, Pramod Boro, became the new Chief Executive Member of the Bodoland Territorial Council on 15 December 2020 with Gobinda Basumatary becoming the Deputy Chief Executive. Subsequently, a new twelve member executive committee was formed with eight members from the United People's Party Liberal, seven members from the Bharatiya Janata Party and one member from the Gana Suraksha Party. ^{[14] [15]} But in mid 2021, GSP left NDA and started talks with TMC. ^[16]

S.No	Name	Constituency	Department	Party
1.	Pramod Boro Chief	Koklabari	● PWD, Finance, Education, Renewable Energy.	United People's Party Liberal
2.	Gobinda Basumatary Deputy Chief	Bhairabkunda	● P&RD, Soil conservation, Tribal Research Institute, Relief and Rehabilitation, and Excise	United People's Party Liberal
3.	Gautam Das	Mathanguri	● Social Welfare, Mental Health and Happiness, BTCLA Affairs, MSME	Bharatiya Janata Party
4.	Daobaisa Boro	Panery	● Sports & Youth Welfare, and Cultural Affairs, Sericulture, Promotion of Indigenous Sports	United People's Party
5.	Diganta Baruah	Mwdwibari	● Irrigation, Museum and Archaeology, and AYUSH	Bharatiya Janata Party
6.	Dr. Nilut Swargiary	Rowta	● PHE, Information & Public Relation, Library Services, and Indigenous Faith	United People's Party Liberal
7.	Ukil Basumatary	Kachugaon	● Water Resources, Food and Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Co-operation, Welfare of SCs	United People's Party Liberal
8.	Dharma Narayan Das	Nagrijuli	● Tourism, Social Justice & Empowerment, Border Area Development	Bharatiya Janata Party
9.	Ranjit Basumatary	Chirang Duars	● Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Land & Revenue, Minority Affairs	United People's Party Liberal
10.	Rakesh Brahma	Mushalpur	● Fishery, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary, Dairy Development	United People's Party
11.	Arup Kumar Dey	Fakiragram	● Health and Family Welfare, Registration of Birth & Death, and Welfare of OBCs	Bharatiya Janata Party
12.	Ranendra Narzary	Suklai Serfang	● Transport, Lotteries, Road Safety, Traditional Skill Development	Bharatiya Janata Party
13.	Sanjib Tanti	Nonwi Serfang	● Welfare of Tea Tribes, Labour & Employment, Economic and Statistics, Science & Technology	Bharatiya Janata Party
14.	Dhananjay Basumatary	Manas Serfang	● Handloom and Textiles, Food Processing	United People's Party Liberal
15.	Wilson Hasda	Gov. Nominated Candidate	● Urban Development, SEED and IT	United People's Party Liberal
16.	Reo Reoa Narjihary	Jamduar	● Industry, Legal Metrology, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship	Bharatiya Janata Party

See also

• 2020 Bodoland Territorial Council election
• 2015 Bodoland Territorial Council election
• Bodo Kachari Welfare Autonomous Council
• Autonomous regions of India
• Bodoland

References

1. "Assam: Governor takes over Bodoland Territorial Council in absence of term end polls". Archived from the original on 18 May 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
2. "Executive Members".
3. Desk, Sentinel Digital (28 February 2023). "'Bodoland People's Front to go solo in 2024 Lok Sabha polls' - Sentinelassam". www.sentinelassam.com. Archived from the original on 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
4. "BTC Accord". 1 January 2018. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
5. Bansal, Kritika (13 December 2020). "Assam BTC Election Results 2020: BPF, UPPL, BJP Fail to Cross Halfway Mark, Coalition Rule Likely". India.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
6. "THE BODOLAND AUTONOMOUS COUNCIL ACT, 1993 PDF" (PDF).
7. "SIXTH SCHEDULE [Articles 244(2) and 275(1)]" (PDF).
8. Ghosh, Nilavro (13 December 2020). "BPF seeks BJP's support in formation of Bodoland Territorial Council". Archived from the original on 13 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
9. "Assam Guv accepts claim of UPPL-BJP-GSP for BTC executive". Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
10. "Lone Cong winner in Bodoland Territorial Council announces joining BJP".
11. Nath, Hemanta Kumar (27 April 2020). "Assam: Governor takes over Bodoland Territorial Council in absence of term end polls". India Today. Archived from the original on 18 May 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
12. "Siddhartha Singh takes over as Principal Secretary of BTC". South Asia Views. 29 April 2020. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
13. "Rajesh Prasad takes over as New Administrator of Bodoland Territorial Council". inSidene. 30 April 2020. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
14. "Six Executive Members of Bodoland Territorial Council take oath". Sentinel Assam. 2 February 2021. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
15. Singh, Bikash. "Pramod Boro takes oath as Bodoland Territorial Council chief". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
16. "ASSAM MP NABA KUMAR NOT JOINING TMC, BUT OPEN TO AN ALLIANCE". 18 August 2021. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.