Sarfraz Alam is an Indian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who represented the Araria seat of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

in the

Indian Parliament The Parliament of India (ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The President o ...

as a candidate of

Rashtriya Janata Dal The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD; translation: National People's Party) is an Indian political party, mainly based in the state of Bihar. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav. The party's support base has traditionally been Other ...

from 2018 to 2019.

Personal life

Alam is the son of

Mohammed Taslimuddin Mohammed Taslimuddin (4 January 1943 – 17 September 2017) was an Indian politician and a veteran RJD leader. He hailed from the village of Sisauna in the Araria district of Bihar. He started his political career as a sarpanch and was elected ...

, who was a member of

and an MP from the Araria seat. He has 7 children with his wife Begum Shania.

Career

Alam had been elected to the

Bihar Legislative Assembly The Bihar Legislative Assembly, also known as the Bihar Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of the bicameral Bihar Legislature of the state of Bihar in India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is ...

(from Jokihat seat) for four terms (1996, 2000, 2010, 2015) - first and second term as a candidate of Rashtriya Janata Dal, and the next two as a candidate of

Janata Dal (United) Janata Dal (United) ("People's Party (United)"), abbreviated as JD(U), is a Social democracy, social-democratic and secular List of political parties in India, Indian political party, rooted mainly in East India, eastern and Northeast India, ...

. In January 2016, he was suspended by his party after a

FIR Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

was lodged against him for allegedly misbehaving with a couple in a train. In February 2018, Alam rejoined Rashtriya Janata Dal. He said that Bihar Chief Minister

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest ...

had betrayed secular forces by breaking the '' Mahagathbandhan'' alliance and allying with

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

. Subsequently, he was nominated by the party to contest the Parliamentary bypoll for the seat of Araria (vacated due to the death of sitting MP Mohammed Taslimuddin). He won the election, held in March by a margin of 61 thousand votes.

Legal issues

In January 2023, Sarfaraz Alam was sent to judicial custody in connection with a 26-year-old kidnapping case registered in 1996. The case, filed under case number 175/96 at the Araria police station, was based on a complaint by Shankar Kumar Jha alias Sakal Jha. He alleged that on the night of 15 May 1996, Alam, along with four to five unidentified individuals, forcibly abducted him from the residence of engineer Naveen Kumar Singh in Araria, where Jha was staying to assist Singh's family in his absence. According to the complaint, Jha was taken on a motorcycle to an isolated area near the Chargharia river, where he overheard discussions among the accused about whether to kill or release him. He was later released near Town Hall. A warrant had been pending against Alam for several years, and the case remained unresolved. On 3 January 2023, Alam appeared before the Special MP/MLA Court in Araria and was remanded to judicial custody. The court also demanded a status report from the SP regarding other pending cases against him. His bail was denied, and the next hearing was scheduled for 9 January 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alam, Sarfaraz Bihar MLAs 2010–2015 People from Araria district Living people Rashtriya Janata Dal politicians India MPs 2014–2019 Year of birth missing (living people) Janata Dal (United) politicians