Election to Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Council on September 22

GUWAHATI

The election to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) will be held on September 22, the Assam State Election Commission announced on Tuesday (August 26, 2025).

A statement issued by the Commission said September 26 has been scheduled for the counting of votes across the 40 constituencies of the council, which administers the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) comprising five districts in northern and western Assam.

Of these constituencies, 30 are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes and five for non-Scheduled Tribes. The remaining five are in the open category.

The Commission stated that the BTR has 26,57,937 voters, an increase of 11.35% over the number of electors during the 2020 election. The statement also said the number of polling stations had been increased by 6.77% to 3,359 from 3,146 five years ago.

“The Commission, however, has decided to continue the process of adding new electors till the last date of filing of nominations, as per rules, subject to the ongoing summary revision exercise of the Election Commission of India,” the statement read.

The United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL), headed by Pramod Boro, seeks to retain power in the BTR with or without its coalition partners — the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Gana Suraksha Party (GSP).

The three parties came together to form the council government in 2020 despite finishing behind the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), which emerged as the single largest party with 17 seats. A former ally of the BJP, the BPF has ruled the BTR for 17 years since 2003.

The UPPL, BJP, and GSP won 22 constituencies among them in the 2020 polls. However, defections from the BPF and Congress (resulting in one seat) saw the UPPL and BJP increase their seat tally from 12 to 15, and from nine to 14, respectively.

The BJP, eyeing a greater share of the BTR pie, decided to contest the September polls independently. Its primary rivals will be the UPPL and the BPF, making it a three-cornered contest, with Congress expected to put up a strong fight in the minority-dominated constituencies.

The BTC election has been billed as the “semi-final” before the 2026 Assembly election in Assam.