GUWAHATI: With a focus on assembly polls in Assam and West Bengal, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday met influential Koch-Rajbongshi leader 'Maharaj' Ananta Rai and spent about an hour at his home in western Assam's Chirang district bordering Bhutan. The Koch-Rajbongshi people are living in Assam and West Bengal and claim to have over 18.5 lakh voters in the two states.

Shah arrived in Guwahati early on Thursday from Delhi by a special flight and flew to Chirang along with Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to meet met Rai, one of the founders of the Greater Cooch Behar Peoples' Association (GCPA), an apex body of the Koch-Rajbongshi people.

"Good days are ahead for the Koch Rajbongshi people. We are happy that the central minister came to meet us," Rai told the media after his meeting with Shah, who later flew to Guwahati enroute to West Bengal, where he attend several election related events, including "Poribortan Yatra" in Cooch Behar.

Rai without detailing his discussion with the Home Minister said: "We have discussed many socio-economic issues. We are with the NDA (National Democratic alliance)." Assam Bharatiya Janata Party President Ranjeet Kumar Dass and Cooch Behar BJP MP Nisith Pramanik were also present in the meeting between Shah and Rai.

Rai claims to be a successor of the erstwhile Koch-Rajbongshi royal dynasty and an influential superior of the community.

According to Rai, the Koch-Rajbongshi community with a total population of over a crore is categorised as Scheduled Caste in West Bengal and Other Backward Class in Assam. They mostly reside in western Assam and in seven districts of North Bengal, especially in Cooch Behar. Many in the political circles believe that during his visit, Shah might have sought support from Rai and his community in view of the ensuing Assembly polls in Assam and West Bengal.

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