Issue Of Separate Kosal State In Odisha Gets A Fresh Impetus

By Dr. Gyan Pathak

The issue of a separate Kosal state in Odisha has got a fresh impetus after senior BJP leader Jayanarayan Mishra called the merger of Odisha’s western region named Kosal with the state a ‘historic blunder’, though the opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJP) has accused the ruling BJP of trying to “divide the state” and BJP has distanced itself from its senior party leader’s remark regarding merger of Kosal region with Odisha.

However, this episode has generated a new hope among people of the Kosal region who have been agitating for a separate state for a long time. Long back in 2004, BJP leader and Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani had said during a visit to Bolangir that the Centre would consider the demand for a separate Kosal state only if the Odisha Legislative Assembly would pass a resolution in favour of creation of a separate state. In 2004, BJD was ruling the state, and L K Advani had thrown the ball in BJD’s court.

Two decades later, situation is different. BJP is ruling both at the Centre and the State, and a senior BJP leader has remarked merger of Kosal reason with Odisha a ‘historic blunder.’ Since many BJP leaders have been supporting the demand for separate Kosal state in the past a new hope for a separate state has been generated in the region.

For example, a former BJP MLA and MP, Balgopal Mishra had said, “There is a growing demand for a separate state; it was regrettable that the newly elected MP and some legislators of Bolangir district had failed to see the writing on the wall.”He had spearheaded the Kosal slogan in 2004, when all major political parties of Odisha were opposed to the demand. He had demanded a separate state comprising the 10 tribal dominated districts of western Odisha – Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Bargarh, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Deogarh, Sonepur, Boudh and Balangir. He had launched ‘Kosal Mukti Rath’ to generate public opinion in favour of the demand.

Sambalpur was merged with Odisha in 1936, while the other areas of Kosal region were merged 12 years later in 1948 after independence. The feudal rulers were against the merger of their princely states, but after independence they agreed to join Odisha. The rulers of Patna, Kalahandi, and Sonepur were chief opponent of merger. They feared that without autonomy the region would politically be controlled by coastal Odisha.

Despite merger in 1948, the demand for separate Kosal state did not die. Nevertheless, when a leader of Swatantra Party from Bolangir Rajendra Singh Deo became Chief Minister of Odisha, the movement for a separate Kosal state lost its momentum.

The movement for a separate Kasal state revived in 1990s. A Sambalpur lawyer restarted the movement saying that the region was neglected by the Odisha government. He also mobilized Kosal Sena and published a newspaper named Kosal Khabar. The movement further gained ground and several organisations joined, such as Western Odisha Yuva Manch (WOYM), Kosal Youth Coordination Committee (KYCC), Kosal State Coordination Committee (KSCC), Kosal Sena (KS), Kosal Mukti Bahini (KMB), Kosal Mukti Morch (KMM) and Kosal Mukti Sena (KMS) among others.

It is in this backdrop, when senior BJP MLA Jayanarayan Mishra lamented the merger of Kosal in Odisha, the opposition BJP and Congress raked up the issue in the Odisha Vidhan Sabha creating uproar in the House against BJP leading to a chaos on March 11, 2025 and there was a scuffle between the opposition and treasury benches during the Question Hour.

Jayanarayan Mishra, a five-time MLA, has said in a government event organized in his Sambalpur constituency, “We have been exploited in every sphere … mining, agriculture, forest and service. We have been denied our cultural rights. The integration of Kosal with Odisha was a historic blunder.” Even after the ruckus in Vidhan Sabha, he insisted that he had not said anything wrong, adding that he was only seeking development for his region.

The issue of the neglect of the region is an old issue. In 1991, the then CM Biju Patnaik had formed a committee to look into the matter. Three years later, the committee had submitted its report and had identified 25 backward, and 34 very backward development blocks. Western Odisha Development Council (WODC) was formed in 1998. In 2004, the then CM and BJD leader Naveen Patnaik had set up a commission to study the backwardness of the region in particular and regional imbalances in the state in general. S K Mohanty led commission had submitted its report in 2008, but has been gathering dust since.

During 2005-2009, various political parties demanded separate Kosal state. Even sitting Congress MP from Sambalpur and former minister Amarnath Pradhan had warned, “If the State Government continued to neglect us then we will not hesitate to demand a separate state”. There were protest demonstrations in 2010 and then every year during 2013 -2018. The year 2023 also seen a general strike in western Odisha in November.

In the Odisha Budget 2025-26 the WODC has been allocated Rs 500 crore, same as in 2024-25, and if adjusted to price rise and inflation it has actually declined in real term.

It is in this backdrop, BJP leader Jayanarayan Mishra’s lamentation over merger of Kosal in Odisha has given impetus to regional aspirations. The region has been a traditional Congress stronghold which the party has lost to BJP. The region has five Lok Sabha and 38 Legislative Assembly seats. Odisha has 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Vidhan Sabha seats. Is Odisha then heading for a split into two states? It is a million dollar question. (IPA Service)