The ongoing Lok Sabha election 2024 is far from being a fair fight as serious violations are going unsanctioned and monitoring agencies are being controlled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In Assam, the redrawing of boundaries and reorganising of population groups through the delimitation exercise had already made the grounds favourable for the BJP and its alliance while keeping any other party or individual opponent at a clear disadvantage. To this list of unfairly acquired advantages was the cancellation of the nomination of a two times independently won Member of Parliament with record margins at Kokrajhar Parliamentary Constituency— reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST). One can only wonder if the sitting MP Naba Sarania’s fate would have been different if only he had joined the BJP!
Political Journey of Sarania and Gana Suraksha Party
Naba Kumar Sarania, also known as Hira Sarania who had an association with the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) in the past, contested the election for the first time in 2014 and won with a record margin for an independent candidate for MP with 51.82%. He was re-elected in the next election in 2019 with a 32.75% vote share despite tough competition from the two powerful political forces in the Bodoland area namely Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF) and United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL). BPF’s Promila Rani Brahma got a 30.2% vote share and UG Brahma from UPPL got a 21.12% vote share.
In 2014, as well as in 2019, the whole country including Assam was influenced by the Modi wave. Yet an independent candidate managed to hold the Kokrajhar parliamentary constituency these two consecutive terms.
A new party called Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) was formed by Naba Sarania in the year 2019 which claims to have an increasing presence in the northeastern states and beyond, amongst backward communities. In the ongoing election, GSP has fielded candidates in the Diphu (ST), Darrng-Udalguri, Sonitpur, and Kokrajhar (ST) parliamentary constituencies in Assam.
Moreover, the party planned to field candidates in other states like Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala, and Jharkhand etc. From the Kokrajhar constituency, Binita Deka has been fielded by the party as Sarania’s nomination was rejected. Sarania himself is in talks about fighting the Lok Sabha election from a constituency (not named yet) from Bihar. Noteworthy that, GSP is not part of the opposition-led INDIA bloc or NDA (National Democratic Alliance).
Delimitation has changed the number of assembly constituencies within the Kokrajhar parliamentary constituency from 10 to presently 9. Out of the 9 assembly seats, only 2 earlier names—Gossaigaon and Bijni remain, rest of the 7 are newly carved.
The Legal Battle on Naba Sarania’s ST Status
The contestation regarding Naba Sarania’s ST status began after his first election in 2014 and the developments escalated in the 3 months leading to the present Lok Sabha election of 2024.
At the core of the matter were two questions— first, whether the Sarania Kachari community comes under ST status, and second, the validity of Naba Sarania’s ST certificate of belonging to the Boro-Kachari community issued by Assam Tribal Sangha.
While the second question was adjudicated, the first was carefully kept aside. After the Gauhati High Court adjudicated the ST certificate to be valid as it was issued by a competent authority, an Appeal was filed at the Supreme Court. The appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court in the year 2018 finding no fault in the High Court’s judgement. In a different cause of action, the matter came to be investigated and adjudicated again through the State Level Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) and Vigilance Cell.
The composition, procedure, and order of these bodies were challenged by Naba Sarania through a writ petition to the Gauhati High Court. Given the urgency of the matter against the backdrop of the approaching election, the speedy hearing was conducted and the final judgment came on 18 April 2024 dismissing the writ petition and upholding the order of SLSC and Vigilance Cell disqualifying the validity of Sarania’s ST certificate.
That was a day before the last date of filing nomination for the Kokrajhar parliamentary constituency. Consequentially, Naba Sarania’s nomination was declared to be rejected on 21 April 2024.
Senior Advocate Salman Khurshid, arguing for Naba Sarania, submitted that the use of the surname ‘Sarania’ should not be the determining factor in deciding the person’s ST status, rather it should be the social status. However, the history of the community, the contestations and assertions over the years, and the process of evolution and diversity within a community were completely ignored by the Court while passing the judgment.
The only ground considered and upheld was— a specific community called ‘Sarania Kachari’ was not enlisted in the Presidential Order No. 22 of 1950 as a Scheduled Tribe. Boro—Borokachari was enlisted and Sarania’s certificate under this category was declared invalid based on certain contested findings of the Vigilance Cell with a contested composition and procedures. The SLSC and Vigilance Cell were supposed to follow the Supreme Court Guidelines in the Kumari Madhuri Patil case while determining Sarania’s caste status. Some of the findings of the Vigilance Cell that were crucial to determining the ST status mentioned that Sarania’s family members used surnames like ‘Das’, ‘Deka’, ‘Sarukoch’ etc. and therefore the inference was drawn that they were not part of ‘Borokachari’ community. Also questioned was the fact that Sarania’s ST certificate was issued only in 2011 and not before for his academic life. While ‘Das’, ‘Deka’ etc. are common surnames used by Sarania Kachari people, not having the document during student life is open to many interpretations at the discretion of the Court.
Evolution and Diversity within Ethnic Communities
The community in question in the legal battles of Naba Sarania is the Sarania Kachari community. The word ‘Sarania’ essentially refers to people who follow the Naam Dharma propagated by Srimanta Sankardeva and his followers in Assam known to be part of the neo-vaisnavite movement which challenged the prevailing Brahmanical dominance over religious practices around the years 1516-1546 and thereafter.
People from different caste groups as well as different tribal groups in Assam became followers of Naam Dharma. The practice of taking ‘Saran’—the initiation process of becoming disciples of a certain guru (religious/spiritual teacher) is still prevalent amongst tribal communities including Mising, Bodo, Rabha, Kachari etc. ‘Saranias’ comprised of people from different communities. Sarania as a surname has been used mainly by people of Bodo Kachari and Rabha origin and argued to have some assimilation with caste-Assamese groups as well.
In Assam, while it is contested whether Sarania Kachari is a distinct tribal identity, more than 5 lakh people in the State across the districts of Baksa, Darrang, Udalguri, Nalbari, Barpeta etc. identify as Sarania Kachari. Apart from the surname Sarania, the community also use the surnames, Das, Deka, Bora, Choudhury etc. The 1961 Census has a mention of Saranias in the List of Scheduled Tribes in Sub-Tribes in Assam.
However, it was not continued so in the later census. Sarania Sanmilan— an organisation of the Sarania people has made assertions and deliberations regarding their ST status based on the community’s historical background on several occasions since 1971—that was the year when they were excluded from ST status in the Census.
The contestation and assertion of the Sarania Kachari group as distinct ST identity was also manifested in the Assam government’s notification of including them within ST dated 15.06.2018 and the withdrawal of the notification on 28.02.2023 thereafter.
Noteworthy that, the withdrawal of the said notification happened while Naba Sarania’s case was ongoing. The question of which community is included as ST or not itself has a complex history backed by people’s movements and political processes. However, such complexities were not part of the adjudication process while deciding the validity of Naba Sarania’s ST status.
Naba Sarania’s Political Future and Prospects for the Gana Suraksha Party
More than the Lok Sabha election of 2024, the upcoming elections will be a test for Naba Sarania and Gana Suraksha Party. The GSP has opened its wings in several states including Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar etc. especially aligning with the issues and aspirations of indigenous/Adivasi communities.
Electoral victories will definitely help in ascertaining a longer lifespan for the party. Removing Naba Sarania from the electoral battle in Kokrajhar puts BJP and its ally UPPL at an advantage as the parliamentary constituency is going for a vote on 7 May 2024. Also notable is the absence of political solidarity from other leaders and parties representing similar ideologies and communities. Now that the electoral future of the Party President himself is uncertain, it would be a tough journey ahead.
Devyani Borkataki is an independent researcher, and Probin Pegu is a political activist (associated with Jeepal Krishak Shramik Sangha) from Assam.
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