News Analysis India

Tag: United People’s Party Liberal

  • BJP, ally United People’s Party Liberal win both seats from Assam in Rajya Sabha polls

    By ANI

    GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday announced that the BJP and its ally United People’s Party Liberal won one seat each, thus bagging both the seats from the state in the ongoing Rajya Sabha elections.

    BJP candidate Pabitra Margherita secured 46 votes while its ally party UPPL’s candidate Rwngwra Narzary secured 44 votes. Congress candidate Ripun Bora secured 35 votes whereas 1 vote was cancelled. With this victory, the BJP’s number in the Upper House reached the 100 mark and it is the first party to do so since 1988.

    Assam Chief Minister took to Twitter to announce the victory and said, “We won both the Rajya Sabha seats from Assam (one by the BJP and other by UPPL, our partner) by a huge margin of 11 and 9 votes respectively.”

    The Chief Minister also extended greetings to the winners and said that the state has reposed faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi by electing two NDA candidates to the Rajya Sabha.”Assam has reposed its faith in PM Sri @narendramodi ji by electing two NDA candidates to the Rajya Sabha by huge margins – BJP’s Sri Pabitra Margherita (won by 11 votes) & UPPL’s Sri Rwngwra Narzary (won by 9 votes). My compliments to winners,” Sarma tweeted.

    Assam has reposed its faith in PM Sri @narendramodi ji by electing two NDA candidates to the Rajya Sabha by huge margins – BJP’s Sri Pabitra Margherita (won by 11 votes) & UPPL’s Sri Rwngwra Narzary (won by 9 votes).My compliments to winners @AmitShah @JPNadda @blsanthosh pic.twitter.com/Lozn8hkNGg
    — Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) March 31, 2022
    For the first time, Congress will have no Rajya Sabha MP from Assam.

    The poor performance of the Congress in assembly polls across five states will impact its Rajya Sabha numbers and the party is now staring at the possibility of losing the Leader of Opposition status in the upper house of Parliament.

    After binneial polls to Upper House are held this year, Congress numbers will be at a historic low and likely to be close to the minimum strength required to maintain the Leader of Opposition status. If the party is unable to do well in Gujarat polls later this year and the Karnataka assembly polls next year, it could lose this status in the subsequent binneial elections to the upper House.

    Earlier, the Congress party had filed a complaint before the Election Commission of India that some BJP MLAs had violated the rules of Rajya Sabha polls and the Congress party demanded that those MLAs votes should be cancelled.

    After complete verification, the ECI has directed the Election officials to start the counting of votes.

  • Social media key to UPPL’s victory in Assam election

    By Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Apart from other reasons, social media is believed to have played a major role in the spectacular performance of the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) in the Assam elections.

    The campaign was led by Vivek Bansal and his team members. The team had tried to reach out to especially the young voters. The UPPL had an aggressive election campaign which was led by party chief Pramod Bodo. 

    The party, which rules the autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council along with the BJP, had contested eight seats and won six to register the second best strike rate after the All India United Democratic Front in the elections.

  • Assam polls: Allies BJP, UPPL to go for friendly fight in 3 seats

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: The BJP’s new-found ally United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) will contest in 11 seats in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) in the upcoming Assam elections.

    The BTR has 12 constituencies in four districts such as Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, and Udalguri which are administered by the autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).

    The BJP and the UPPL will have friendly contests in three seats such as Bijni, Kalaigaon and Majbat. The UPPL is not contesting from the Panery seat where the BJP has fielded Rajya Sabha member Biswajit Daimary.

    The UPPL, which is headed by former student leader and the incumbent Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the BTC Pramod Bodo, announced the names of eight candidates on Tuesday. Earlier, it announced the names of three candidates.

    Urkhao Gwra Brahma — a former MP, social worker and poet who is a recipient of the Sahitya Academy Award — has been fielded from the Chapaguri seat.

    ALSO READ | Shah slams Congress’ talks of secularism with AIDUF barb in Assam

    The other candidates of the party are Somnath Narzary (Gossaigaon), Lawrence Islari (Kokrajhar East), Manaranjan Brahma (Kokrajhar West), Jayanta Basumatary (Sidli), Phanin Boro (Bijni), Leho Ram Boro (Tamulpur), Bhupen Boro (Barama), Ratendra Daimary (Majbat), Kamal Azad (Kalaigaon) and Gabinda Chandra Basumatary (Udalguri).

    Gabinda Chandra Basumatary, a rebel leader-turned-politician is the Deputy CEM of the BTC.

    In the 2016 elections, the BJP’s now-estranged ally Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) had won all the 12 seats in the BTR. Ditched by the BJP, the BPF has since joined the Congress-led grand alliance of Opposition. The ten-party alliance was formed with the sole aim of ousting the BJP from power.

    The BPF had ruled the BTC for 17 years since its creation in 2003 as a political solution to the Bodo agitation for a separate state. In the BTC elections held in December last year, the BJP-UPPL combine had defeated the BPF and grabbed power.

    The BPF had emerged as the single largest party by winning 17 of the BTC’s 40 seats but could not cobble up the numbers to retain power.

  • Assam polls: BJP trashes reports of dissidence in party after 11 sitting MLAs denied tickets

    By Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: The BJP trashed reports that the denial of tickets to 11 MLAs and other aspirants triggered dissidence in the party.

    “This happens in every election. The candidates are selected keeping in mind the best interest of the party and overall picture,” BJP’s Assam unit chief Ranjit Kumar Dass told journalists on Sunday at a joint press conference with Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL). The three parties are in an alliance.

    The supporters of the 11 BJP MLAs, including a Minister, and the aspirants have already vented their ire in public. Some missing the bus are mulling contesting the polls on the tickets of other parties or as independent candidates.

    Dass claimed that people believe in the BJP and the AGP as the state government succeeded in all spheres in the past five years. The BJP heads the state’s coalition government which also has AGP and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) as constituents.

    The BJP’s ties with the BPF have since soured and the saffron party has found a new ally in UPPL. The BPF too has joined hands with a Congress-led and seven-party grand alliance of Opposition. BPF and UPPL hold sway in four districts under the Bodoland Territorial Region that has 12 seats.

    Dass was confident the BJP-AGP-UPPL and the Rabha Joutha Mancha, a tribe-based organisation, would be able to grab 100 of the state’s 126 seats, a goal the alliance has set. In the 2016 elections, the BJP-AGP-BPF combine had won 86 seats (BJP-60, AGP-14 and BPF-12).

    AGP president Atul Bora said the coalition would contest the polls as a team where one would support the candidate of the other. Except in five seats where BJP and AGP will have friendly contest, they are fielding consensus candidates in the remaining seats.

    “Our workers will work for BJP and UPPL where AGP is not contesting and vice versa. We want to defeat this unholy alliance of Congress and AIUDF (All India United Democratic Front),” Bora said.

  • Ahead of polls, party that rules Bodoland plans pan-Assam presence

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: BJP ally United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL), which heads the autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) in Assam, has plans to contest outside the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) in the Assembly elections, expected in April.

    “The alliance hasn’t yet been finalised but there is a gesture that BJP and UPPL should fight the Assembly elections together. We will demand not less than 10 of the 12 seats in BTR,” UPPL president Pramod Bodo, who is also the BTC chief, said.

    He said the UPPL workers were insisting that the party should field candidates outside the BTR. “We hope that we will be able to fulfil their wishes,” he said.

    The UPPL-BJP-Gana Shakti Party coalition rules the BTC. They had grabbed power in December last year after defeating the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF).

    The BPF had ruled the council ever since its creation in 2003 as a political solution to the Bodo agitation for a separate state. Led by former insurgent leader Hagrama Mohilary, the BPF was a BJP ally but the saffron party chose the UPPL over it for alliance in the BTC elections. The BPF had won all the 12 seats in the BTR in the 2016 polls.

    The BTC chief said the priorities of the new council would be in sectors such as education, health, communication, and employment.

    “There is also something called community happiness. We are giving importance to it. There are several communities in the BTR which are not happy. They are worried about their future uncertainties. We will work for their happiness,” Bodo said.

    Committing to also work for corruption-free governance, he said the council has liabilities of Rs 2,300 crore but revenue is virtually nil.

    “It is a huge liability. The previous BPF government embezzled funds left and right,” the BTC chief alleged. He said certain schemes, launched by the BPF, would be foreclosed.

    “Instructions have been already passed. We have instituted a probe committee. Based on its report, we will clear the pending bills,” he added.