How Was the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) Formed in Assam?

On 27 January 2020, the Government of India, the Government of Assam and several Bodo groups signed an agreement in New Delhi that reshaped a part of Assam. The Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) were renamed the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), which got additional seats in its council and expanded powers.

However, this signing was not the beginning of the story. It was the third major accord in a process stretching across more than five decades, which included student movements, insurgency, unsuccessful pacts, violence and negotiations.

In this article, we trace the entire process step by step using official documents and trusted news sources. People in Assam hold strong and differing views on this subject, so we have tried to explain it as clearly and neutrally as possible.

Who are the Bodos?

The Bodos (also known as Boros) are one of the largest plains tribal communities of Assam, and they are recognised as a Scheduled Tribe in India. The Bodos have lived on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra valley for centuries, and the Bodo language is one of the languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.

During the twentieth century, several Bodo leaders were worried about the condition of their land, language and culture. Their concerns included the loss of tribal land to non-tribals, limited political representation, and the position of the Bodo language in education and administration.

At a glance: BTR today

Feature	Details
Location	North bank of the Brahmaputra, western and central Assam, bordering Bhutan and West Bengal
Districts	Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, Udalguri and Tamulpur
Constitutional status	Autonomous region under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution
Governing body	Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC)
Population (Census 2011)	About 31.5 lakh (3.15 million)
Area	Around 8,970 km² (figures differ between sources)
Headquarters	Kokrajhar

Stage 1: The early demands (1960s to 1980s)

The first organised political demand came in 1967, when the Plains Tribals Council of Assam (PTCA) was formed. It called for a separate union territory for the plains tribes of Assam, to be named Udayachal. The demand did not succeed, but it put the question of political autonomy for plains tribes on the agenda.

In the following years, the All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU) became the most influential voice of the community. Under the leadership of Upendranath Brahma, who became ABSU president in 1986, the organisation broadened its agenda from student issues to political ones.

On 2 March 1987, ABSU launched a mass movement demanding a separate state of Bodoland. The movement involved large rallies, strikes and protests across the Bodo-dominated areas north of the Brahmaputra.

Upendranath Brahma died on 1 May 1990, aged just 34. A week later, he was posthumously given the title Bodofa, meaning “Guardian of the Bodos”. He remains the most revered figure of the Bodo movement, and the 2020 accord provided for a cultural centre in his name.

Stage 2: The first Bodo Accord (1993) and the Bodoland Autonomous Council

After years of agitation, the Government of India, the Government of Assam and ABSU signed the first Bodo Accord in 1993. It created the Bodoland Autonomous Council (BAC), giving the Bodo areas a degree of self-government.

The BAC did not resolve the issue. The boundaries of the council’s area were disputed, its powers were limited, and many in the movement felt the agreement fell short of what had been promised. Armed groups, which had already emerged during the movement, continued their activities.

Stage 3: Armed groups and a decade of conflict

Alongside the democratic movement, armed groups were also operating in the Bodo region from the late 1980s onwards. The two most prominent were:

• the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), which sought a sovereign Bodoland and later split into several factions; and
• the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT), which demanded a separate state within India.

The 1990s and 2000s saw insurgency, counter-insurgency operations and community violence that cost many lives and displaced people of different communities.

Stage 4: The 2003 accord and the Bodoland Territorial Council

The next important agreement was signed on 10 February 2003: a Memorandum of Settlement between the Government of India, the Government of Assam and the Bodo Liberation Tigers.

This agreement led to the creation of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India. The Sixth Schedule provides autonomy to certain tribal areas, where elected councils have powers to make laws and run administration on various local subjects.

The territory of the council came to be called the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD), comprising four districts: Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri.

In December 2003, BLT cadres laid down their arms. On 7 December 2003, Hagrama Mohilary, the former BLT chief, was sworn in as the council’s first Chief Executive Member (CEM), the head of its executive.

The first elections to the council were held in May 2005. The BTC had 46 members: 40 elected and 6 nominated by the Governor. Hagrama Mohilary’s party, the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), governed the council for the next fifteen years.

Continuing tensions (2003–2019)

The BTC provided administrative autonomy, but it could not end the conflict. Splinter groups of the NDFB carried out armed attacks, and episodes of ethnic violence took place in the area in 2012 and 2014, which led to killings and the displacement of people belonging to various communities.

At the same time, ABSU and other organisations continued to demand a separate state of Bodoland, while other communities in the region raised their own concerns about land, representation and security.

Stage 5: The 2020 Bodo Accord and the creation of BTR

On 27 January 2020, the third and most comprehensive agreement was signed in New Delhi in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and other leaders. The signatories included the Central and Assam governments, all four factions of the NDFB, ABSU and the United Bodo People’s Organisation (UBPO).

The agreement kept the territorial integrity of Assam intact, which meant no separate state, but expanded autonomy significantly. Its main provisions included:

• Name: BTAD was renamed the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR).
• Council: BTC seats could be increased to a maximum of 60.
• Powers: more legislative, executive, administrative and financial powers were to be given to the BTC.
• Boundary changes: villages adjoining BTR with a tribal majority could be included, and villages with a non-tribal majority contiguous to non-Sixth Schedule areas could be excluded. A commission with members from the Assam government, ABSU and BTC was to examine this.
• Language: Bodo in Devanagari script was recognised as an associate official language of Assam, with a separate directorate for Bodo-medium schools.
• Welfare outside BTR: a Bodo-Kachari Welfare Council for Bodo villages outside BTR, and special legislation to protect tribal land rights outside the tribal belts.
• Rehabilitation: rehabilitation of NDFB cadres, compensation of ₹5 lakh to the families of those killed during the movement, and a cultural complex named after Bodofa Upendranath Brahma at Kokrajhar.

NDFB cadres formally laid down arms at a ceremony in Guwahati on 30 January 2020, bringing the armed phase of the movement to an end.

After 2020: elections, a new district and boundary changes

December 2020 elections: in the first BTC elections after the agreement, the BPF won 17 of 40 seats, the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) 12, the BJP 9, and the Congress and the Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) one each. No party crossed the halfway mark of 21. The UPPL, BJP and GSP formed an alliance, and UPPL leader Pramod Boro, a former ABSU president, became CEM. It was the first change of CEM in the council since 2003.

A fifth district: in January 2022, the Assam government created Tamulpur district by separating it from Baksa, giving BTR five districts.

Inclusion of villages: in January 2023, the Assam government approved adding 60 villages with at least 80 per cent Bodo population to BTR.

September 2025 elections: in the second BTC elections after the agreement, the BPF won 28 of 40 seats, the UPPL 7 and the BJP 5, while the Congress won none. Hagrama Mohilary was sworn in again as Chief Executive Member on 5 October 2025.

Timeline of key events

Year	Event
1967	Plains Tribals Council of Assam formed; demands union territory “Udayachal”
1986	Upendranath Brahma becomes ABSU president
1987	ABSU launches movement for a separate Bodoland state (2 March)
1990	Death of Upendranath Brahma; title “Bodofa” conferred
1993	First Bodo Accord; Bodoland Autonomous Council formed
2003	Second accord with BLT (10 February); BTC formed; Hagrama Mohilary becomes CEM (7 December)
2005	First BTC elections
2020	Third Bodo Accord (27 January); BTAD becomes BTR; NDFB cadres surrender (30 January)
2020	BTC elections; UPPL-led coalition; Pramod Boro becomes CEM (December)
2022	Tamulpur district created from Baksa
2023	60 villages approved for inclusion in BTR
2025	BPF wins 28 of 40 seats; Hagrama Mohilary returns as CEM (October)

How the BTR is governed

The BTR is administered under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which applies to certain tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

The Bodoland Territorial Council is the elected body of the region. The Council makes laws and runs administration on various subjects transferred to it, including agriculture, education, health, forests and local development, while subjects like law and order remain largely with the state government. The Council’s executive is headed by the Chief Executive Member, supported by other Executive Members, similar to a cabinet.

BTR continues to be part of Assam. Its people also vote in elections to the Assam Assembly and the Lok Sabha.

Questions that remain

Despite the 2020 accord, several issues are still debated:

• Implementation: how fully and how quickly the promised powers and funds are delivered.
• Boundaries: which villages should be included in or excluded from BTR.
• Representation: BTR is home not only to Bodos but also to other tribes, Assamese, Bengalis, Adivasis and others. The challenge is to balance the interests of all these communities within the council.
• Statehood: some groups still see statehood as the ultimate solution, while others accept the BTR framework.

Conclusion

The Bodoland Territorial Region did not appear overnight. It was shaped over time by the Udayachal demand of 1967, the ABSU movement led by Bodofa Upendranath Brahma, the limited autonomy of the 1993 agreement, the creation of the BTC in 2003 and, finally, the comprehensive agreement signed in January 2020. Each step created new institutions, but unresolved issues remained.

BTR is now an autonomous region of five districts within Assam, with an elected council under the Sixth Schedule. Its history shows how lengthy negotiations can move a conflict from armed struggle towards democratic politics, and how much the success of that process depends on implementation.