Union home minister Amit Shah flew to Assam’s Chirang district on Thursday morning to fulfil a “promise” he had made to Ananta Roy Maharaj, the founder member of the Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association, which has “considerable” influence among the Koch-Rajbongshi community in poll-bound Bengal.

After Shah’s visit to the Satipur residence of the 63-year-old Roy where the minister spent around 50 minutes, the association’s founder member told the media that “good days await our people as all our pending demands will be fulfilled”. Assam minister and North East Democratic Alliance convener Himanta Biswa Sarma and state BJP president Ranjeet Kumar Dass accompanied Shah.

From Satipur, Shah flew to Cooch Behar in north Bengal to address a rally in the Rajbongshi heartland where he promised to build a cultural centre for the community at a cost of Rs 500 crore, among others.

Though Roy, who became much sought after following reports about Shah’s impending visit to his residence this week, did not spell out what transpired during the discussion or what were the pending demands, sources told The Telegraph that it was the BJP’s attempt to woo the community before the Assembly polls.

The community, according to Roy, has a “decisive” say in “52 of the 54 Assembly seats” in north Bengal.

Sources said Shah’s visit to Roy was undertaken with an eye on the Bengal polls where the BJP is going all out to unseat the ruling Trinamul Congress and that it will also have an “impact” in Assam where the community has a population of over 50 lakh and has been demanding Scheduled Tribe status for several decades.

Both Bengal and Assam go to polls in April-May.

Sources also said the demands included a separate state or Union Territory for the community comprising seven districts of Bengal and undivided Goalpara district (presently it has five districts),

ST status for the community in Bengal and Assam, constitutional recognition of the Koch-Rajbongshi language, a separate regiment for the community’s youth in the army and paramilitary forces and chapters on Koch-Rajbongshi icons in history books, among others.

The association has been pressing for a separate state/Union Territory since its formation in 1998.

Roy said the princely state of Cooch Behar was merged with India on August 28, 1949, and in 1950, it was included in the state of Bengal.

“There is a historical basis for our demand. Cooch Behar was to remain a separate state but became a district of Bengal. We want the Centre to restore the status of the Rajbongshi state. We had discussed the issue with Congress-led UPA government and now we are discussing it with BJP-led NDA regime. We have the support of over 18 lakh people in north Bengal,” Roy told this newspaper, alluding to the association’s electoral influence, a reason why Shah and the BJP are courting him.

That both Shah and Roy share “more” than a rapport was also evident from what he said when asked about the home minister flying in to meet him during a hectic campaigning schedule.

“I have met Shahji twice before — in October last year and on January 31 — and briefed him about our long-pending demands. I also told him about his predecessor Rajnath Singh’s commitment to fulfil our demands once the BJP enjoyed majority in both houses of Parliament and has its own nominee as the President.

“Without a majority, it cannot fulfil our statehood demand despite our treaty of merger with India. Before Rajnath, we had placed our statehood demand before the Congress which too supported us but it did not have the majority to see it through,” Roy said.

“When I last met Shahji on January 31, he had asked me to have food before leaving. I also invited him to visit our Satipur residence and have lunch with us. He promised that he will visit us today and then fly to Cooch Behar. He kept his promise. He assured me that they will fulfil some demands now and the rest after the elections,” Roy said, without revealing the demands.

Volunteers of the Narayani Sena dressed in traditional attire lined up along the road to Roy’s Satipur residence to welcome Shah. The minister had “pitha and laaru” at Roy’s residence.