BJP member Kamal Chowdhury, who was denied a ticket to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) polls, joined the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) at Tangla town in Udalguri district of Assam on Tuesday.

Chowdhury, a former leader of the All Assam Bengali Youth Students’ Federation, had recently joined the BJP but left it after he was denied a ticket to Mwdwibari seat in Udalguri district.

Chowdhury said he had joined the BJP to work for society but the party didn’t recognise his potential as a candidate. So he joined the UPPL to work for the people under the leadership of Pramod Boro. He said he was also attracted to the UPPL after Boro, a former leader of the All Bodo Students’ Union (Absu) whom he had keenly observed as a successful student leader, joined the party.

Boro, welcoming Chowdhury to the UPPL and his political mission of ousting the ruling Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), said, “I am happy that Chowdhury has joined the party to protect his community’s ethnic identity. His joining has added teeth to the UPPL.”

The BPF is ruling the BTC for the third consecutive term.

Lambasting BPF and BTC chief Hagrama Mohilary, Boro said, “The people of the region gave the Mohilary-led government opportunities to learn the ways of better governance but the present time demands a change. At present, people fear politics more than militancy as it is a complex system but the UPPL wants an easy-going system where every person in society can be a stakeholder in growth by giving suggestions on governance.”

Boro said change was possible only through collective effort. He said his party was in alliance with the people of the Bodo belt and not with any party but it was open to alliance with parties committed to development of the region.

Asked if BTC polls need to be rescheduled because of the coronavirus threat, Boro said only if a positive case is reported in the BTC, as human lives are more precious than elections. “The state election commission is in a better position to decide on the matter,” he added.

On the BJP and other parties fielding candidates in the BTC polls, Boro said multiple choices strengthen democracy. On the torching of a UPPL party office in Chirang, he said it was “unfortunate”. Without naming anyone, he claimed that a party was gripped by insecurity over losing power.

The BJP has fielded Diganta Barua for Mwdwibari, ignoring Chowdhury and BJP state executive member Niranjan Singh who had lost the seat to BPF’s Jagadish Sarkar by nearly 3,000 votes. Sources close to Singh said he might join the BPF.