With an eye on the polls, the Centre on Thursday initiated a move to consider the demand for the separate State of Bodoland, to be carved out from Assam. The MHA set up an Expert Committee, headed by former Home Secretary GK Pillai, to examine the viability of granting statehood to Bodoland, by holding consultations with all sections of the society. The panel has been asked to submit its report in nine months.
After the announcement of decision to create Telangana, several Bodo outfits had intensified their agitation to press their demand for a separate state for Bodo tribals. The Bodos live on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra River in Assam.
This move is seen as a bid to pacify the agitating Bodo outfits. The Congress aims to arrive at an electoral understanding with them in Assam. The Government had earlier set up an autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) in 2003 by signing an accord after years of violent agitations that claimed hundreds of lives.
