With eye on Assembly polls in Assam and West Bengal, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday met influential Koch-Rajbongshi leader 'Maharaj' Ananta Rai and spent about an hour at his home in western Assam's Chirang district bordering Bhutan.
Shah arrived in Guwahati early on Thursday from Delhi by a special flight and flew to Chirang along with Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to meet met Rai, one of the founders of the Greater Cooch Behar Peoples' Association (GCPA), an apex body of the Koch-Rajbongshi people.
The Koch-Rajbongshi people are living in Assam and West Bengal and claim to have over 18.5 lakh voters in the two states.
"Good days are ahead for the Koch Rajbongshi people. We are happy that the central minister came to meet us," Rai told the media after his meeting with Shah, who later flew to Guwahati enroute to West Bengal, where he attend several election related events, including "Poribortan Yatra" in Cooch Behar.
Rai without detailing his discussion with the Home Minister said: "We have discussed many socio-economic issues. We are with the NDA (National Democratic alliance)."
Assam Bharatiya Janata Party President Ranjeet Kumar Dass and Cooch Behar BJP MP Nisith Pramanik were also present in the meeting between Shah and Rai.Rai claims to be a successor of the erstwhile Koch-Rajbongshi royal dynasty and an influential superior of the community.
The 62-year-old leader told IANS over phone that Shah met him and his family members on Thursday and enjoyed some light food and "laddus" made at his home.