Cooch Behar to be designated as Union Territory before 2024 assembly elections

In a major development, Ananta Rai, a self-proclaimed king of the Koch Rajbongshi family on Wednesday claimed that ahead of the upcoming 2024 assembly elections Cooch Behar will become a Union Territory.
Rai further elucidated that he was in talks with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and proposed the idea of announcing Cooch Behar as Union Territory and that the district in West Bengal will be separated from the state as from Assam.

Further mentioning the proposed changes that would take, several districts of Assam will come under the soon-to-be Union territory.
The districts have been identified as Dhubri, Bongaigaon, Chirang and North Salmara.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal government has already clarified their stand to the President, asserted the self-proclaimed king.

On being asked about the stand of the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) in terms of their objective to liberate the Kamatapur nation from India, Ananta Rai refrained from commenting on their ideologies and urged the KLO cadres to return to the mainstream.

This claim of Cooch Behar turning into a Union Territory has created a flutter of reaction especially in Goalpara district. This time Chief of Rabha Hasong Parishad Tonkeshwar Rabha has hit back at Anant Rai Maharaj, the erstwhile self-proclaimed king of Cooch Behar. 

"India is a democratic country. It has neither a king nor a maharaja, nor an emperor." With this statement, Tankeshwar Rabha hurled a sharp jibe to the King Ananta Rai. He added, "It is not known on what basis the Maharaja is talking about the formation of the Cooch Behar state by covering undivided Goalpara. After a prolonged struggle, the council has been formed in the Rabha Hasong area in exchange for blood and sweat of the people. We are demanding the Sixth Schedule with different ethnic groups, a process which the government has already started.

In such a case, there can be no question of Rabha Hasong Parishad going to the state of Cooch Behar for any reason. We will remain in Assam, with the ethnic communities of Assam, with the process of nation formation of greater Assam,” added Rabha. 

Meanwhile, the process of Cooch Behar being designated as Union Territory is still under wraps. No confirmation on the same has been claimed by the Union Government.