Balangir, Aug. 17: The Koshal Kranti Dal will boycott the forthcoming municipal election scheduled next month.

While addressing reporters here today, chairman of the party’s advisory committee Pramod Mishra said they would rather concentrate on the demand for creation of a separate Koshal state.

“It will be unjust to take part in any political activity in the state as Koshal is a political issue and the movement for a separate Koshal state is gaining momentum. So, our party has decided to boycott the ensuing municipal election. By boycotting the election, we want to send a message to the state government about our non-cooperation in any political activity. Now, we have decided to boycott the election. In future, people of the region might also decide to do the same,” Mishra said.

Mishra said the party would support any candidate who was ready to fight the polls to raise the Koshal issue.

The party and other outfits have intensified the movement for the separate state soon after the Congress gave nod to the demand for Telengana. A fortnight ago, Koshal activists blocked all major national highways passing through western Odisha. It was followed by rail roko on August 9.

On August 10, nearly 42 organisations from 10 districts of the Koshal region met in Balangir and chalked out a plan to take forward the movement for Koshal state. The Koshal State Co-ordination Committee, which was formed at the meet, has called a strike in the Koshal region on August 26 to press its demand for a separate Koshal state.

“It will be a historic bandh. Never in the Koshal region, a bandh had been observed to demand the formation of a separate Koshal state. We had it in places such as Balangir and Sambalpur, but never in the Koshal region,” said Mishra.

The proposed Koshal region consists of 10 western Odisha districts with a population of about 2.50 crore.

About the party’s evolution, Mishra said it was a necessity. “As political leaders or people’s representatives from the region did not extend any support to the movement, we formed the party in 2007. But, the party will not indulge in power politics. It is a much like the pre-Independence Congress and the African National Congress, which did not fight for power, but only gave leadership to people’s movements,” he said.

Even today, if political leaders, including MPs and MLAs, come forward to lend support, we will dissolve the party, Mishra said.