Kokrajhar (Assam), Sep 1 (PTI) The ruling UPPL and its main rival in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), BPF, have announced their candidates for all 40 seats for the forthcoming council elections.
The incumbent Chief Executive Member (CEM) Pramod Boro will be contesting from two seats, while his predecessor Hagrama Mohilary of the BPF will also be testing his electoral fate in two segments.
The election for the BTC is scheduled on September 22.
The United People's Party Liberal (UPPL), which is heading the coalition in BTC with allies BJP and Gana Suraksha Party (GSP), declared the final list of six candidates late on Sunday night.
Among those nominated are Boro from the Dotoma segment and former deputy CEM Kampa Borgoyari from Debargaon.
The names of these two UPPL leaders were also in a list released by the party earlier on Sunday, in which Boro has been fielded from Goibari and Borgoyari from Chirang Duar.
The Bodoland People's Front (BPF), which had been in power in BTC since its formation in 2005 before being ousted in last polls in 2020, also announced its full list of candidates on Sunday night.
Those named include Mohilary from Chirang Duar, Azamul Hoque from Fakiragram, Maneswar Brahma from Baganpara and Jagadish Sarkar from Mwdwibari.
Mohilary, who will also be contesting from Debargaon, will be locked in a straight fight with his former deputy CEM Borgoyari, who has since joined the UPPL.
The Congress has already announced its candidates for all 40 seats, while the BJP has named nominees for 28 seats.
The saffron party is expected to field candidates in a few more seats.
The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has named its candidates for four segments so far.
Though the UPPL and AGP are part of the BJP-led NDA, including being coalition partners in the state government, all the parties are contesting the BTC polls separately.
In the last BTC polls, UPPL had won 12 seats, the BJP nine and Gana Suraksha Party one.
The BPF had emerged as the single-largest party, winning 17 seats last time. The Congress' lone member in the council had joined the BJP.
The last date of filing nominations for BTC polls is September 2, while the documents will be scrutinised on September 4.
The candidates can withdraw their applications till September 6.
If there is any requirement for repolling in any constituency, it will be held on September 24.
The votes will be counted on September 26.
The total number of voters in the 40 constituencies spread across Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, Tamulpur and Udalguri districts is 26,57,937, including 13,34,521 women and 17 others.
The voting will be held across 3,359 polling stations.