LUCKNOW: Hours after NISHAD Party chief Sanjay Nishad revealed his political ambitions in the run-up to assembly polls, he backed down by evening after a meeting with chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday.
Though he did not divulge what transpired in the 30-minute meet, he insisted it was “cordial and the Nishad community was friends with BJP”.
It would be a cause of happiness for me and my samaj (community), if BJP wins, he said.
Clarifying on his remark that BJP would win the 2022 polls if he’s projected as the deputy CM, he said, “Yeh ek charcha thi.
Yeh hamare samaj ka sandesh tha(it was a matter of discussion and a message from my community).” The 2022 assembly election would be the second time NISHAD Party would hit the hustings.
It contested 2017 election on 62 seats in alliance with Peace Party and won the Bhadohi seat.
“There was no discussion on seat-sharing with the CM.
It is up to BJP on how many seats they offer us.
Our party’s sole demand is reservation for Nishads.
Hamare ek hi mudda hai abhi (we have only one agenda),” he said.
NISHAD party has considerable influence in Purvanchal and having consolidated the community vote base, he’s in a position to bargain.
There are at least 152 Nishad-dominated seats in UP of the 403 assembly constituencies.
Earlier, Sanjay Nishad had declared he would go alone in the assembly polls as his community was disappointment with the state government’s failure to grant them SC status.
“Karyakarta chunav ladna chahta hai.
Party bani hai chunav ladne ke liye.
Jeetna bhi important hai.
Par hamara mukhya mudda aarakshan hi hai (Party was formed to contest elections.
Workers want to contest too and winning elections is also important.
But our main issue is reservation),” he said.
NISHAD Party had also attacked BJP for not doing enough to restore the glory of King Nishadraj’s fort in Prayagraj as promised in the 2017 elections.
The party would install a 180-foot tall Nishadraj statue at Shringverpur, Prayagraj.
However, his one-onone with Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda this month caused the turnaround.
“The meetings were friendly and they attributed the pandemic to the slowdown in fulfilment of our demands for SC quota,” said Sanjay Nishad.
Talking about other demands, including a Rajya Sabha seat, he said, “This was earlier promised to us by BJP.
They are our good friends.” NISHAD Party (Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal) is flexing political muscle due its base in eastern UP.
The party caters to non-Yadav OBCs.
The biggest demand of Nishads in UP is SC status.
In 2019, after talks of an alliance between Nishad party and SPBSP-RLD combine failed and BJP forged an alliance with it and that was enough to catapult the 2016-born party to the centrestage.