Shah visits Koch-Rajbongshi leader at his residence in Assam

Union Home Minister Amit Shah onThursday visited the residence of Ananta Roy, the chief ofGreater Coochbehar Peoples' Association (GCPA), in Assam'sChirang district, and believed to have discussed mattersrelated to the welfare of the Koch-Rajbongshi community.

Roy, who calls himself a descendant of the Coochbeharroyal family in Bengal, told mediapersons that the Union HomeMinister held talks with him on the long-pending demands ofhis community that has a substantial population in Lower Assamand the neighbouring state.

Shah, who had arrived in Guwahati on Wednesday night,was accompanied by BJP national general secretary KailashVijayvargiya, North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenorHimanta Biswa Sarma and Assam BJP president Ranjeet Dassduring his visit to Roy's residence at Chatipur here.

''All our pending demands were discussed at themeeting, and now I can only say that good days are ahead forthe Koch-Rajbongshi community,'' Roy said.

The Koch-Rajbongshis along with five other communitiesin Assam has long been demanding the scheduled caste status.

Asked if talks progressed on that front, Roy, however,refused to give any detail.

Roy also clarified that ''his outfit, which has thesupport of 18.50 lakh members, is already a part of the NDA'',when enquired if an alliance with the BJP was in the offing,ahead of the assembly polls in Assam and Bengal.

According to the GCPA chief, Shah was ''served atraditional fare, consisting of sweetmeats 'pithas and tilerlaru', and he enjoyed the meal, and asked for more''.

He said that he had invited the Union minister to hisresidence during one of his trips to Delhi.

The home minister is scheduled to address a publicmeeting in Coochbehar later in the day.

Assembly elections in Bengal and Assam are likely tobe held in April-May.