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Nishad party chief meets Nadda ahead of 2022 UP polls
The Nishad leaders also discussed the issue of community being moved from OBC and be given benefits and reservations as scheduled castes and issued certificates as ‘majhwar’ – a term for riverine community of boatmen or fishermen listed in 53rd number in the SC list.
Four days after meeting union home minister Amit Shah, Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) leader Sanjay Nishad, who has been camping in New Delhi since then, met BJP chief JP Nadda for the second round of seat-sharing talks in Delhi ahead of the 2022 UP polls on Tuesday.
He was accompanied by his son Praveen Nishad, currently a BJP MP from Sant Kabir Nagar. The talks were held in the presence of BJP veteran and UP cabinet minister Sidharth Nath Singh who rushed to Delhi especially for the meeting of Nishad party leader whose party has a significant following among the riverine community of boatmen and fishermen in and around Gorakhpur.
“The talks were successful,” Sanjay Nishad said over the phone from Delhi after the meeting and admitted he had put up the issue of “ucchit samman (proper respect)” to the community before the BJP leaders.
Sanjay didn’t elaborate on what he meant by “ucchit samman” but Nishad party leaders were hopeful of community being accommodated in various corporations besides a cabinet berth.
The Nishad leaders also discussed the issue of community being moved from OBC and be given benefits and reservations as scheduled castes and issued certificates as ‘majhwar’ – a term for riverine community of boatmen or fishermen listed in 53rd number in the SC list.
Back in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Sidharth Nath had played a key role in ensuring that the Nishads went with BJP and called off their successful alliance with the Samajwadi Party which had with the support of BSP put up Praveen Nishad as a joint candidate against the BJP in the 2018 Lok Sabha by-poll from Gorakhpur and ensured BJP’s shock defeat.
“We had cordial discussions with party chief on issues of Nishad community,” Sidharth Nath Singh said even as BJP chief JP Nadda tweeted pictures of his meeting with Nishad community leaders – a gesture that has been interpreted as a message that the BJP and Nishads would contest the 2022 UP polls in alliance.
After 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Nishad party leadership, which has again been approached by the Samajwadi Party ahead of the crucial assembly elections, had complained of being neglected and was being wooed by the Samajwadi Party. On the other hand, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has begun smaller parties like Mahaan Dal whose chief Keshav Dev Maurya said they would contest the 2022 UP polls with the Samajwadi Party.
