Former United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) commander Naba Kumar Sarania alias Hira Sarania, who formed the Jan Suraksha Party (JSP) in 2020, has created raised eyebrows in political circles by opting to contest from the Valmikinagar Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar. Mr. Sarania, 55, is contesting from Valmikinagar against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate and sitting MP Sunil Kumar of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), and the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) Deepak Yadav.
The former ULFA commander has been the MP from Assam’s Kokrajhar seat twice, in 2014 and 2019, as an independent candidate, but his nomination papers were rejected from the seat for the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha election. Mr. Sarania challenged the decision of the State Department of Tribal Affairs (Plains), which on January 20 passed the order cancelling the Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificate issued to him in October 2011. Mr. Sarania claims he belongs to the Kachari tribal community.
