When the nomination papers of Kokrajhar (Assam) incumbent MP Naba Kumar Sarania alias Hira Sarania was rejected in April, the desire to contest the Lok Sabha elections was so overwhelming that it sent him packing to Valmiki Nagar in Bihar.
Sarania, 55, a former ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam) commander, filed his nomination papers from Valmiki Nagar on May 6, which passed the scrutiny.
With the date of withdrawal of candidature getting over on Thursday (May 9), he is now in the fray with nine other candidates for the constituency, located around 300km northwest of Patna. It goes to poll on May 25.
The two-time Independent MP from Kokrajhar was gearing up to contest for the third time from the seat reserved for the scheduled tribes (ST). He had also formed a political party — Gana Suraksha Party — after his victory in 2019.
However, his nomination papers were rejected following anomalies in his tribal status and certificates from two different tribes in the past two parliamentary elections. He challenged it in the Guwahati High Court but did not get any relief.
“I have always fought for the rights of tribals. My supporters encouraged me to contest from elsewhere after my nomination in Kokrajhar was rejected in a conspiracy at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. So I decided to contest from Valmiki Nagar,” Sarania told The Telegraph.
Though the MP did not elaborate on the “conspiracy” against him, he pointed out that Valmiki Nagar was an underdeveloped constituency with a sizeable presence of tribals, Dalits and people belonging to the other castes.
“The current MP (Sunil Kumar) from this seat neither ensures development of the area nor raises the issues of the ST, Dalits, Mahadalits, backward and extremely backward castes in the Lok Sabha. The public here is looking for an alternative and I have come to demolish the existing political syndicates,” Sarania said.
Addressing the fears of the people about a candidate parachuting from another state, he added that his party is already contesting the polls from Gopalganj and Saran constituencies in Bihar, and is considering fielding candidates on a few seats that will go to polls in the seventh phase.
Sarania has started campaigning vigorously in Valmiki Nagar, which shares borders with Nepal and Uttar Pradesh and is getting a grip of the situation on the ground.
“I was campaigning today (Friday) in the Bagaha area in the constituency and was surprised to see such a large number of people still living in huts. Communication and the road network are very poor in the area. My vehicle got stuck in the sand at one place and we extricated it with much difficulty,” Sarania told this newspaper.
“The scheme of tap water for every household is a failure here, with water not being supplied. Education and health facilities are in shambles. Agricultural land was distributed among the landless long ago, but they are yet to get its possession. Nobody is happy here,” he added.
Sarania is a former ULFA commander and his website claims that he received militant training in Myanmar and Afghanistan. He is married and has three daughters.
He is also facing several cases in Assam pertaining to murder, kidnapping to murder, kidnapping for ransom, dacoity, criminal conspiracy, unlawful activities, possession of illegal weapons, land grabbing, dishonestly receiving stolen property, voluntarily causing grievous hurt, and causing disappearance of evidence.
Sarania and his family have movable and immovable assets worth ₹4.10 crore. Sarania is pitted against Sunil Kumar of the JDU and Deepak Yadav of the RJD.
