Gogoi and AGP reject 'Bodoland'

GUWAHATI, Dec 11: The Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) today raised the demand for a separate Bodoland State to be carved out of Assam in the State Assembly today following the Centre’s nod to the proposed Telangana State to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, however, rejected the demand outright. The stand of the State Government was also supported by the AGP.
After the Question Hour, Karendra Basumatary of the BPF raised the demand for a separate Bodoland State, and said: “If the Central Government can carve out a separate Telangana of Andhra Pradesh, what prevents it from carving out a separate Bodoland of Assam?”
Basumatary demanded of the House to send a message in favour of a separate Bodoland State to the Centre today itself. He said the BPF has no alternative but to press for a separate Bodoland State.
AGP president Chandra Mohan Patowary then said that the BPF had initiated a new chapter in Assam’s politics by raising the demand for a separate Bodoland on the floor of the House. “Since the BPF is a coalition partner of the Congress in the State Government, the Government should clarify its stand on the issue,” Patowary said.
In his reply, Gogoi said: “There have been demands for separate Kamatapur, Bodoland, Dimaraji and Karbi Anglong from the respective ethnic groups, but we want to stay together. The State Government doesn’t want further division of the State. If the ethnic groups demanding separate States have any problems, the government is ready to solve them.” The AGP supported the stand of the Chief Minister in what may be called a convergence of the ruling Congress and the principal opposition to prevent the State from being divided further.