Lucknow: Nishad Party chief and Uttar Pradesh minister Sanjay Nishad on Wednesday reiterated his party’s demand for a caste survey in UP even as he hoped that “elder brother” BJP would ensure that his party got “respectable number of seats” as part of the seat-sharing agreement in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
“We are in favour of a caste survey/census in UP as per census manual of 1961 so that all castes are aware of their numerical strength. We also demand that riverine community of fishermen and boatmen be included in Scheduled Castes and be counted as such,” Nishad said on the conclusion of his party’s three-day training camp here on Wednesday.
He blamed the previous Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party governments of denying what was due to the riverine community and stated that Nishad Party would contest the forthcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls on its own symbol.
Since the party was founded in 2016, the Nishad party chief’s son Pravin Nishad has twice been a Lok Sabha MP, but on another party’s symbol – on SP symbol in the 2018 Lok Sabha by-poll from Gorakhpur and on the BJP’s symbol from Sant Kabir Nagar in 2019 Lok Sabha poll. Nishad’s other son Sarvan too became a lawmaker from Chauri Chaura assembly seat on BJP symbol in 2022 UP polls. Of the 11 Nishad party candidates who contested and won the 2022 UP polls, five did so on the BJP symbol.
This time, the Nishad Party, having stood loyal to the BJP despite offers from Samajwadi Party in 2022 UP polls, is confident of contesting on its own symbol.
{{/usCountry}}This time, the Nishad Party, having stood loyal to the BJP despite offers from Samajwadi Party in 2022 UP polls, is confident of contesting on its own symbol.
{{/usCountry}}“We are confident of getting respectable number of seats as part of the seat sharing agreement with our elder brother the BJP,” he said.
“We will leave no stone unturned to ensure the NDA wins big in UP and beyond,” the Nishad Party chief said.