Protest for Bodoland before Modi's visit to Assam

A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Assam, groups leading the 51-year-long movement for a separate Bodoland state slammed BJP for its failure to keep the promise it made before 2014 Lok Sabha polls to address the vexed issue.

The groups on Monday claimed that Bodo voters had helped BJP candidates win in at least five Lok Sabha seats in Assam--Mangaldoi, Tezpur, Guwahati, Lakhimpur and Diphu in 2014 but BJP failed to keep the promise Modi made before the general elections to address the Bodoland issue.

"Telangana was created in June 2014 after BJP came to power but the demand for seperate Bodoland state has remained unfulfilled despite constant agitation and promises by political parties. The Bodoland Territorial Council was formed under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution in 2003 with the promise to carry forward talks on Bodoland issue. But the issue continue to linger and the process for the reorganisation of state has remained pending since the formation of Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Uttarakhand," said Promod Boro, president of All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU).

"The Bodoland movement is one of the oldest movements in the country and it needs special attention of the Centre " he said adding that the movement for separate Bodoland state will continue.

On Monday members of ABSU, NDFB (Progressive) and People's Joint Action Committee for Bodoland Movement, a forum of several other Bodo organisations staged a protest at Tezpur in Sonitpur district demanding Modi's action regarding Bodoland state.

Modi will visit Assam on Tuesday to inaugurate Bogibeel bridge, country's longest rail-cum-road bridge. The 4.94-km-long bridge will connect north and south banks of the Brahmaputra in Dhemaji and Dibrugarh districts.

The organisations have been demanding a separate Bodoland state, bifurcating Assam districts having a significant Bodo population, to ensure the protection of the community's interests.

The Centre had constituted the Bodoland Territorial Council, an autonomous council, under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution in 2003 to put an end to the violent movement for Bodoland but the agitation, spearheaded by Absu and a few other organisations, has continued.