Sarfaraz Alam

Sarfaraz Alam was born in Sisona village, Araria district, Bihar, to a politically active family. He is the only son of Mohammed Taslimuddin, a major RJD leader and former MP. He soon started his political career by representing the Jokihat constituency in the Bihar Legislative Assembly aiming higher like his father. From the very beginning Sarfaraz Alam was with RJD, a party that dominated Bihar politics for a very long time. Alam was first in the Bihar Legislature with multiple elections, both from 1996 to 2005 and 2010 to 2019. The next year, due to his father's death, he contested and won the Araria Lok Sabha by-election on an RJD ticket with a large margin of victory. However, his career as an MP was not long, as he lost the seat in the 2019 general elections to BJP's Pradeep Kumar Singh. Nevertheless, Alam has always been an influential figure in the side of Bihar's political arena. The contorversial record of Alam has followed him throughout his career. In 2016, when he was a JD(U) MLA, he was accused of molesting a woman on the Rajdhani Express and was consequently suspended from the party. Later on in 2023, he was arrested for a kidnapping case from 1996, highlighting his ongoing legal hassles and how it has affected his political image. Being rejected for a ticket for the Araria Lok Sabha seat was a major blow to Alam, which happened in April 2024 when RJD decided to give the ticket to his brother Mohammed Shahnawaz Alam. He venting his anger at a public occasion, accused the party leadership of betraying and marginalizing him. His tearful episode at an open event revealed the existence of the inner discord within the RJD and hinted at the possible end of political dynasties in Bihar.