The Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), which registered a comprehensive victory in the September 22 Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) polls by unseating the UPPL-BJP coalition, formally staked its claim to form the next council on Sunday.

BPF chief Hagrama Mohilary led the delegation of 28 elected council members to meet state governor L.P. Acharya. He also invited the governor to the swearing-in ceremony on October 5. He also met chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in connection with the formation of the council on Sunday.

Apart from BPF winning 28 of the 40 BTC seats, the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) and the BJP won seven and five seats respectively. The Congress drew a blank. The poll results were declared on Saturday.

In the 2020 polls, the BPF won 17 seats, the UPPL 12 seats and the BJP nine seats, with the UPPL and the BJP joining hands to form the council.

The majority mark to form the council is 21.

The BPF had on Saturday unanimously decided that Mohilary, 56, will lead the council once again — his fourth time in the coveted post.

Mohilary said he would welcome support for the smooth functioning of the council, hailing chief minister Sarma’s statement that the BPF was with the BJP-led NDA and that he had no doubt whatsoever that ”we will work together”.

The BTC chief in-waiting also said his first priority would be to settle land issues in the BTR areas which comprise five districts: Kokrajhar, Udalguri, Chirang, Baksa and Tamulpur.

The BPF will also set up a memorial park in Kokrajhar in memory of singer-composer Zubeen Garg, who passed away in Singapore last week while swimming, Mohilary said.