Kokrajhar, Assam, April 21 (HBTV): In a major political development in Assam, the electoral authorities have cancelled the nomination of two-time sitting Member of Parliament and Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) leader Naba Kumar Sarania.   

This decision comes after the Gauhati high court upheld an order dismissing his status as a Scheduled Tribe member.

Kokrajhar is one of two parliamentary constituencies in Assam reserved for Scheduled Tribes. Naba Kumar Sarania had on Friday filed his nomination from Kokrajhar.

A single-judge Bench of Justice SK Medhi on April 18 dismissed his petition and declared him ineligible to contest from any constituency reserved for STs.

Sarania had challenged the order of the State Level Scrutiny Committee on January 12 stating that he did not belong to any ST (Plains) category. He challenged the decision by the State’s Department of Tribal Affairs (Plains) that passed an order on January 20 cancelling his ST certificate issued on October 17, 2011.

The MP, a former leader of the militant group United Liberation Front of Asom, had claimed he belonged to the Kachari community.

He is also the founder of the Gana Suraksha Party, which is a partner of the United People’s Party Liberal and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the government of the Bodoland Territorial Council.