LUCKNOW Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday listed out the central government’s welfare projects for the weaker sections of society, emphasising that the NDA is committed to the welfare of backward communities.
“The NDA is a family, not just an alliance, and the Nishad Party is part of this family. All parties in the alliance are working unitedly with full strength in line with Modi ji’s vision,” he emphasised.
The minister was in Lucknow to attend multiple events, including the 13th Sankalp Diwas of the Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (Nishad Party) headed by Sanjay Kumar Nishad, cabinet minister of fisheries department in the state government.
The Nishad community, a backward class of fishermen and boatmen, has a sizable sway over votes in Gorakhpur and its adjoining regions in eastern UP.
Addressing the gathering, Rijiju said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi also belongs to the backward community like you (Nishad community) and is always concerned about the welfare of poor and weaker sections.”
He asserted that the Modi government has carried out a large number of development projects and welfare schemes for the backward communities.
{{/usCountry}}He asserted that the Modi government has carried out a large number of development projects and welfare schemes for the backward communities.
{{/usCountry}}On the occasion, deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya urged the Nishad community not to get misguided by anyone and have faith in the Modi government. “The Samajwadi Party has also always misguided you (Nishad community). Do not fall in its trap,” said Maurya.
“In the 2024 LS elections, the SP spread lies about revocation of reservation if BJP comes to power. Now, everyone is aware of this blatant lie of the Samajwadi Party,” asserted Maurya.
He assured that ‘Majhwar reservation’ cannot be stopped and that the NDA alone will resolve the issue. Maurya also assured the Nishad community that their pending demand of reservation (inclusion in SC community) will be fulfilled.
Deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak also took potshots at the Samajwadi Party, saying: “You have to ensure that the SP is confined to Etawah and Saifai in 2027 polls.” He credited Sanjay Nishad’s alliance with the NDA for the Samajwadi Party’s defeat in successive elections in the state.
Union minister for Parliamentary affairs and minority affairs Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday said the newly enacted VB-G RAM G Act would lay the strongest foundation for a “Viksit Bharat” by ensuring comprehensive development of villages.
“This is not merely an employment programme, but a holistic roadmap for rural development. The new law marks a clear departure from earlier rural schemes that were confined to paper, vote-bank politics and corruption,” he said addressing an NDA workshop here.
He said despite an expenditure of around ₹11 lakh crore under MGNREGA, rural development remained uneven as funds were misused and work was not generated where it was most needed. “Instead of employment guarantee, it had become a guarantee of loot. VB-G RAM G plugs these loopholes through technology-based monitoring, transparency and accountability,” he said.
UP BJP president and Union minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said VB-G RAM G was a decisive step towards ending corruption and accelerating rural development. He said the scheme guaranteed 125 days of employment annually to rural families, with an additional 25 days for workers in forest areas, and ensured faster wage payments on a weekly basis, unlike MGNREGA. “When villages develop, the nation moves faster towards becoming a developed country,” he said.
Addressing the Alpsankhyak Sneh Samvad programme organised by the BJP Minority Morcha here, Rijiju called on the minority communities to ensure their active participation in the country’s development, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a developed India cannot be realised without their involvement.
Religious leaders and intellectuals from the Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain communities were present at the dialogue programme. BJP Minority Morcha president Kunwar Basit Ali, and UP Shia Waqf Board Chairman Ali Zaidi also addressed the gathering.
‘Nishad community not anyone’s vote bank’
Nishad Party chief Sanjay Kumar Nishad asked party workers to be ready for the 2027 assembly polls and be wary of the Samajwadi Party.
“We not only know how to catch fish in rivers and ponds; we also know how to make and unmake governments. The Nishad community has realized this truth after the emergence of the Nishad Party,” he said at the Sankalp Diwas of the Nishad Party, emphasising that the fishermen’s community is not anyone’s vote bank. The party joined the NDA in April 2019 before the 2019 LS poll. In the 2022 assembly polls, five MLAs of the Nishad Party were elected for the state assembly. SBSP president OP Rajbhar and Daya Shankar Singh, transport minister in the state government, also addressed the gathering.