UPPL Decides To Quit NDA, Announces List Of Candidates

Guwahati : The United People's Party Liberal (UPPL), an ally of the BJP-led government in Assam on Tuesday decided to quit the NDA by announcing candidates for seven out of 15 assembly constituencies of Western Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Region.

Announcing that the party has decided to field candidates on at least 11 seats of the Bodoland Territorial Region, the UPPL leader Raju Kumar Narzary told reporters, “We decided to contest the ensuing Assembly polls due to widening ideological differences with the BJP.

He pointed out, "We wanted a balance of power in BTR as the Bodoland People’s Front is currently in power of the Bodoland Territorial Council. People could have approached UPPL MLAs if their issues were not addressed by the council. But BJP did not respond to our requests. So we are now left with no option but to fight the elections on our own."

The BJP had entered into an alliance with UPPL in 2021. The UPPL spokesperson also clarified that UPPL is a secular party. “We never wanted to be a part of Hindu-Muslim politics,” he asserted.

In the first list UPPL president and Rajya Sabha member Pramod Boro has been named as candidate for Tamulpur constituency. The party has nominated general secretary Raju Kumar Narzary from the Dotma (ST) constituency, while sitting legislator Lawrence Islary has been fielded from the Kokrajhar (ST) seat.

Former All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) president Dipen Boro, who recently joined the UPPL, has also been included in the first list. He will contest the election from the Udalguri (ST) constituency.

It is significant that the UPPL leaders including Pramod Boro were part of efforts that led to signing of the new Bodoland Accord in 2020 that ended four-decades-long insurgency in western Assam’s Bodoland.

“Bodoland remained totally peaceful during our tenure in BTC till September 2025. But since the BPF came back to power, the situation has again become tense and several violent incidents have taken place. BTR is again witnessing illegal activities like gambling, cattle smuggling and corruption. We will try to highlight these issues and seek the mandate from the people during the Assembly elections,” said Mr Narzary informing them that they had written formal letters to BJP about their alliance but failed to get any response from the ruling party.