Assam: With hopes of becoming 'Minister', Naba Sarania enters election fray

Barama: Naba Sarania, a two-time Lok Sabha MP from Kokrajhar, today filed his nomination as an independent candidate from the Barama Constituency.

 

Although he did not explicitly state that he wishes to become a Minister in the next government, Sarania said that if elected as an MLA, he can do "much more" for the people of the Constituency.

 

"Most of the development funds are sent for the MLAs. An MLA can also assume the duties of a Minister. Compared to an MP, more can be done to serve the people," Sarania tole media persons.

 

Talking to scribes, Sarania, who is the leader of the Gana Suraksha Party, said that he has been advised by alliance leaders -- including Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) chief Pramod Boro and Himanta Biswa Sarma -- to contest the polls.

 

"Especially Pramod Boro had urged me to contest the polls and assume a responsible position in Dispur. Since the past ministers -- including Pramila Rani Brahma and Rihon Daimary -- could not fulfill their roles, I have been urged to enter the fray

 

"For a long time, the people of the Barama constituency have been divided. It is our intention that the next MLA takes up his responsibilities properly in Dispur," he stated, adding that he is hoping to win "more than one lakh votes" in the ensuing elections in the state.

 

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Barama, a seat reserved for a Scheduled Tribe candidate, falls under the Mangaldoi Lok Sabha constituency and will go to the polls in the third phase of the Assam Assembly election on 6 April.

 

In the 2016 Assembly election, the constituency had a total of 1,45,625 registered voters -- a huge chunk of them non-Bodo voters who are likely favour to a candidate like Sarania.

 

In the 2016 Assembly election, BPF's Maneswar Brahma, with 45,289 votes, easily defeated AGP's Rekha Rani Dasboro, who got 35,493 votes. In the 2011 election, Brahma, with 42,692 votes, routed AGP's Rekha Rani Dasboro, who got 24,373 votes, by an even larger margin.

 

"This time, however, the BPF will receive a rude awakening. Many people are joining us," Sarania added.

 

This time, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is expected to field Bhupen Boro from the Constituency. The BPF, which has now entered into an alliance led by the Congress-AIUDF, has again handed the ticket to Maneswar Brahma.