Estranged vice president of Kosal Kranti Dal (KKD) Baidyanath Mishra has given a new twist to Kosal movement by calling for a KBK State.
According to him, the undivided Sambalpur and Sundargarh districts in course of the movement are no longer in the backward category and hence, should be kept out of the purview of Kosal State. If regional imbalance is the sole point of concern, then the Kosal map has to be redrawn by including the undivided Koraput and Kandhamal (the then Phulbani) district including Boudh and Athmallik. With this revised map, the camouflaged leadership fight between Sambalpur and Balangir will also reach to its logical end giving way to new leadership who can steer the movement in its studded path. In the new geographical entity language will no longer be an issue.
If the movement gets a new twist, then Kosli language will no longer be diluted as Sambalpuri-Kosali and people of western Odisha without Sambalpur will have a sigh of relief. The new idea is believed to have been getting wider acceptance especially in Kalahandi and a fresh group of committed people under a new banner are ready to work for carving out a new State which will usher in an era of economic prosperity and resolve the issue of regional imbalance for all time to come. The demand for new KBK State is all the more justified because not a single town in this region has found its place in AMRUT plan approved for nine towns of Odisha, said Mishra in a Press release.
