Poll fever has gripped the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) once again. Amid the COVID-19 situation, conducting elections in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) can result in varied challenges.
The Assam State Election Commission is yet to announce fresh dates for the BTR elections. However, the news of the commission exploring various measures to be taken for adhering to pandemic guidelines during the polls has triggered fresh enthusiasm among parties and candidates. The commission’s move is guided by the understanding that the COVID-19 pandemic situation is not going to be over so soon. Hence, the Constitutional authorities must explore ways to perform their mandated functions in the pandemic situation.
The election to the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), which has been put on hold due to Covid-19, is likely to be held only after the State Election Commission (SEC) has a first-hand ground experience of how the EC conducts the three-phase assembly election in Bihar between October 28 and November 7 under the pandemic condition.
Earlier, Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “The Health Department has made it clear that it is not safe to conduct the BTC polls till November 30.”
“We are following the Bihar elections and a decision will be taken based on the Bihar experience. The SEC team will visit Bihar and get a first-hand experience of conducting an election under the pandemic situation,” Sarma mentioned.
Meanwhile, the state health department had earlier written to the SEC to either further postpone or put on hold the BTR election, saying that holding polls during the Covid-19 pandemic would create a “disaster” and the situation will turn unmanageable.
On the other hand, The Election Commission announced that by-elections in Rangapara and Sivasagar assembly constituencies in Assam will not be conducted. Both the seats have remained vacant after the deaths of Rajen Borthakur (BJP) and Pranab Gogoi (Congress) respectively.
“After taking into consideration various factors like weather conditions, movement of forces, pandemic, etc, the commission has decided not to hold by-elections,” a note from the Election Commission said.
Chief Secretaries of five poll-bound states even wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner, requesting the poll panel not to hold the by-elections citing the COVID-19 crisis.
The EC after due deliberations agreed and decided not to hold by-polls in the five states, sources added.
The five states -Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry are scheduled to go into polls in 2021. It is worth mentioning that by-elections will be held in two assembly constituencies- one each in Manipur and Nagaland.
The states where by-elections will be held are Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Odisha, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh. The results will be declared on November 10.
The president of Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), Hagrama Mohilary on Tuesday reiterated that democracy was being violated in BTR. Talking to the media in Kokrakhar on the sidelines of a protest rally demanding early elections in BTR, Mohilary said the democracy was made a mockery in BTR as the State Government was reluctant to hold the 4th BTR election on the pretext of the coronavirus pandemic.
He said the panchayat elections in Rajasthan had been held although there was a pandemic and assembly election in Bihar assembly had been fixed. But the Government of Assam has made the BTR poll uncertain under the pretext of the pandemic.
Mohilary also mentioned that Governor’s Rule in BTC would come to an end on October 27 and therefore, the council election should be held within October. He said that the elected government was very important in a democratic country for the development of the people of the region but due to the deferment of the election, all the development activities in BTR has come to a halt. He also said that the Government of Assam should hold the BTR election before the expiry of the Governor’s Rule and demanded that the Governor’s Rule must not be extended.
Apart from focusing on the challenges of adhering to COVID-19 guidelines, making an objective assessment of law and order situation in BTAD and neighboring districts will also be critical to holding a free and fair poll in BTR.
Despite restrictions on outdoor gatherings and no date announced for the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) election, campaigning has been in full swing in the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) in Assam.
The United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) has put a demand to the government and the election commission for the deployment of full-proof security before, during, and after the council elections to the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR). In a party cabinet meeting also discussed deeply on several important issues ranging from social, political, economic, and other issues faced by the society at large during the global pandemic of Coronavirus besides preparation for the run-up to the BTR elections.